Hard and Soft Palate 107 



band becomes ; it is the pterygo-maxillary ligament. If traced up- 

 wards it is felt to be attached to a somewhat springy piece of bone, 

 the hamular process o>{ the internal pterygoid plate ; and traced down- 

 wards it is evidently connected with the inner and back part of the 

 lower jaw. From the front of this ligament the buccinator arises, and 

 from the back the superior constrictor. 



If the student will be good enough to continue the examination by 

 bringing his finger upwards and forwards from the middle of the 

 ligament, keeping his nail upon the outer surface of the last molar, he 

 will feel the coronoid process of the jaw, separated from his finger, 

 however, by the buccinator, the insertion of the temporal muscle, and 

 the mucous membrane of the mouth. Then, lastly, if he will press 

 firmly below the lower end of the ligament he will make out the gus- 

 tatory nerve lying between the mucous membrane and the inner side 

 of the jaw ; firm pressure upon it causes pain (p. 63). 



THE PALATE 



The hard palate consists of the horizontal plates of the two 

 superior maxillae and of the palate bones ; posteriorly it is continued 

 into the soft palate by the palatine aponeurosis (W.). This surface 

 of bone is roughened for the more firm attachment of the muco- 

 periosteum. The muco-periosteum, which contains many glands, is 

 covered with squamous epithelium. A median raphe (pa<j>ri, seam} in 

 the mucous membrane of the hard and soft palate indicates their 

 development in lateral halves. 



On the under surface of the palate bone is a ridge for the insertion 

 of part of the tensor palati, and at the outer end of the ridge is the 

 canal for the posterior palatine artery that is, to the inner side of the 

 last molar tooth. Bleeding from this artery may be arrested by finding 

 the foramen with a sharp probe and then sticking a pointed spigot of 

 wood into the canal. 



The arteries of the hard palate are derived from the internal 

 maxillary. The nerves come from the superior maxillary Meckel's 

 ganglion. 



The soft palate is firmly attached in front to the posterior border 

 of the hard palate, and from its sides pass off two folds of mucous 

 membrane, the anterior of which descends to the tongue and the pos- 

 terior to the pharynx, under the name of the anterior and posterior 

 pillars of the fauces. Between the anterior and posterior pillars the 

 tonsil is placed. The narrow passage between the two anterior folds 

 is the isthmus of the fauces. The mucous membrane covering the 

 pharyngeal aspect of the soft palate is thin, and, being continuous 

 with that of the nares, is covered with columnar ciliated epithelium ; 

 that upon the buccal surface is thick, and contains many mucous 

 glands. Its epithelial covering is squamous. Forming a foundation 



