280 SPLANCHNOLOGY. 



brane and attached to the thyroid cartilage ; this portion helps 

 to form the posterior pillar of its own side. This muscle is 

 chiefly a tensor of the velum. 



PALATO-STAPHYLINUS. 

 (Azygos Uvulae, HUMAN.) 



This is a small cylindrical muscle contacting its fellow of the 

 opposite side, and arising by a small tendon from the palatine 

 arch and staphyline aponeurosis, to become attached to the free 

 border of the velum at its middle ; the pair of muscles thus 

 indicate the right and left halves of the structure. The action 

 of this muscle is to raise and draw forwards the velum, thus 

 helping to dilate the isthmus. 



PALATO-GLOSSUS. 



If this muscle exists in the horse, it will be found under the 

 mucous membrane of the anterior pillar, which it helps to form, 

 thus joining the soft palate and the tongue. 



The soft palate is supplied with blood by the staphyline and 

 pharyngeal arteries. Its nerves come from the second division 

 of the fifth pair, and from Meckel's ganglion. It acts as a valve 

 between the mouth and pharynx, opening to allow the passage of 

 alimentary materials during deglutition, but completely prevent- 

 ing the return of such from the pharynx to the mouth ; hence in 

 case of vomition in the horse the material is voided through the 

 nasal chambers. Respiration is likewise effected in the solipede 

 only through the nose. 



THE TONGUE. 



The tongue is a movable, musculo-membranous organ, situated 

 on the floor of the mouth, between the rami of the lower jaw ; 

 the space it occupies is termed the lingual canal. It is the 

 special organ of taste, and at the same time materially assists in 

 mastication and deglutition. In the ox it is prehensile, and the 

 carnivora lap or prehend water with it. The tongue consists of 

 muscles, glands, vessels, and nerves, having its free surface 

 enveloped by mucous membrane, which varies in thickness, being 



