316 THE HUMAN BODY. 



mucous membrane, which reach from the soft palate to the 

 tongue. These elevations are the pillars of the fauces. 

 Each bifurcates below, and in the hollow between its divi- 

 sions lies a tonsil (1, Fig 95), a soft rounded body about the 

 size of an almond, and containing numerous minute glands 

 which form mucus. 



Note. The tonsils not unfrequently become enlarged 

 during a cold or sore throat, and then pressing on the 

 Eustachian tube (Chap. XXXIII.), which leads from the 

 pharynx to the middle ear, keep it closed and produce tem- 

 porary deafness. Sometimes the enlargement is permanent 

 and causes much annoyance. The tonsils can, however, be 

 readily removed without danger, and this is the treatment 

 usually adopted in such cases. 



The Pharynx or Throat Cavity (Fig. 89). This por- 

 tion of the alimentary canal may be described as a conical 

 bag with its broad end turned upwards towards the base of 

 the skull, and its narrow end downwards and passing into 

 the gullet. Its front is imperfect, presenting apertures 

 which lead into the nose, the mouth, and (through the 

 larynx and windpipe) into the lungs. Except when food 

 is being swallowed the soft palate hangs down between the 

 mouth and pharynx; during deglutition it is raised into a 

 horizontal position and separates an upper or respiratory 

 portion of the pharynx from the rest. Through this 

 upper part, therefore, air alone passes, entering it from the 

 posterior ends of the two nostril chambers; while through the 

 lower portion both food and air pass, one on its way to the 

 gullet, , Fig. 9, the other through the larynx, d, to the 

 windpipe, c ; when a morsel of food " goes the wrong 

 way " it takes the latter course. Opening into the upper 

 portion of the pharynx on each side is an Eustachian tube, 

 g: so that the apertures leading out of it are seven in num- 

 ber; the two posterior nares, the two Eustachian tubes, the 

 fauces, the opening of the larynx, and that of the gul- 

 let. At the root of the tongue, over the opening of the 

 larynx, is a plate of cartilage, the epiglottis, e, which can be 

 seen if the mouth is widely opened and the back of the 

 tongue pressed down by some such thing as the handle of 



