54 OSTEOLOGY, OR ANATOMY OF OSSEOUS SYSTEM 



and the space is filled by the palate bone. The inner border 

 rises into a nasal crest which receives the vomer; in front a 

 more elevated part is the incisor crest, . prolonged into the 

 anterior nasal spine. By the site of the incisor crest is a fora- 

 men, becoming a groove; when the bones are united there is 

 one orifice below, with right and left branches above, called 

 the incisor foramina, or foramina of Stetson, for the transmis- 

 sion of arteries. The lower aperture is the anterior palatine 

 fossa; in the middle line, opening into it, are the foramina of 

 Scarpa, the left nasopalatine nerve passing through the anterior 

 one and the right through the posterior. From the anterior 

 palatine fossa are seen two sutures passing to the interval 

 between the canine and lateral incisor tooth; the sutures are 

 to be seen in the inferior meatus. They mark off the inter- 

 maxillary bone, and include the whole thickness of the alveolar 

 processes, the nasal spine, and sockets for the incisor teeth. 

 No trace of the suture is seen on the facial surface, as an out- 

 growth, the incisor process, forms the front wall of the incisor 

 sockets. 



The maxillary sinus, or antrum, is irregularly pyramidal; 

 the base is at the nasal surface of the body and the apex extends 

 into the malar process. Its aperture is closed in part by the 

 uncinate process of the ethmoid, the ethmoidal process of the 

 inferior turbinate, and the maxillary process of the palate 

 behind; the lacrymal in front rarely assists. The alveolus 

 of the first molar is most prominent in the floor. 



The Palate Bone 



This bone is L-shaped, and forms the back part of the hard 

 palate and the lateral wall of the nose between the superior 

 maxilla and internal pterygoid plate. It presents a horizontal, 

 a vertical plate, and three processes. It articulates with six 

 bones its fellow, the superior maxilla, the ethmoid, sphenoid, 

 vomer, and inferior turbinate. 



The horizontal plate is thick, of a quadrilateral form, and 

 presents two surfaces and four borders. The superior surface, 

 concave from side to side, forms the back part of the floor of 

 the nostril. The inferior surface, slightly concave and rough, 

 forms the back part of the hard palate. At its posterior part 

 may be seen a transverse ridge, more or less marked, for the 



