G-i OSTEOLOGY. 



tion of one part of the dental canal which transmits the inferior 

 dental artery and inferior dental division of the fifth pair of 

 nerves. 



OS HYOIDES. 



(Fig. 15.) 



This is a bone which supports the tongue, the pharynx, and the 

 larynx, and is suspended downwards and forwards between the 

 rami of the lower jaw ; it has a fibro-cartilaginous attachment to 

 the hyoid process of the temporal bone. The hyoid series is 

 composed of five distinct pieces — a body, or hyoid-bone proper, 

 two cornua or horns, and two cornicula or lesser horns. 



The body bears a striking resemblance to a spur or two -pronged 



Fig. 15. 

 Left asjitct of the hyoid series of Ijoiies. a, Proximal, 

 end of left coniu ; 6, Distal end of right coriiu ; c, Proxi- 

 mal end of coriiiculum ; d, Hyoid bone. The left heel- 

 process points downwards and backwards, the spur process 

 in the opposite direction. 



fork, presenting two lateral or heel processes, the thyro-hyals^ 

 directed backwards and downwards, their free extremities articu- 

 lating with the thyroid cartilage of the larynx. The two convex 

 articular facets, where these processes join the body, are for the 

 cornicula. Springing from the middle portion, anteriorly, is a 

 long, sharpened process, the glossohyal or sjmr process, which is 

 buried in the substance of the tongue. 



The cornicula, or cerato-hyals, are two short cylindrical pieces, 

 articulating at the inferior extremity with the body, and at the 

 superior with the cornua. 



The cornua, or stylo-hyals, are long, thin, flattened bones, which 

 extend obliquely backwards and upwards. The anterior extremity 

 of each cornu presents an articulation for the corresponding corni- 



