GLOSSARY 399 



Vascular. Having many blood-vessels. 



Vaso-motor. Literally, vessel-mover. Applied to the nerves which dilate blood- 

 vessels or contract them, or vaso-dilators and vaso-constrictors. 



Velum. Veil. Velum palati, the veil, or soft hanging portion of the palate or roof 

 of the mouth. 



Vena cava. A large hollow vein. 



Venesection. Cutting a vein. " Bleeding " or phlebotomy. 



Ventral. Toward the front of the body, as the ventral cavity. 



Ventricle. Literally, a little belly. From the Latin venter. A cavity in the brain 

 or in the heart. 



Vermiform. Worm-shaped. 



Vertebra. From a Latin word meaning to turn. Certain movements of the verte- 

 brae turn the body from side to side. 



Vertex. The crown of the head. 



Vestibule. A cavity of the internal ear through which stimulating impuses are 

 transmitted to auditory and vestibular nerves. 



Villus. A hair (pi. villi). The villi of the intestine are hair-like in shape and belong 

 to the mucous coat. 



Viscus. An internal organ of the head or trunk. (Plural, viscera.} 



Vitreous. Glassy. The vitreous humor resembles glass in appearance. The 

 vitreous layers of the skull are brittle like glass. 



Volar. Belonging to the palm or vola. 



Xyphoid. Sword-shaped. The third piece of the sternum is the xyphoid or ensiform 

 appendix. 



Zygoma. A yoke. The arch of bone at the side of the face formed by zygomatic 

 processes of frontal and maxillary bones. 



