The Skull

The Skull

The skull is supported on the summit of the vertebral column, and is of an oval shape, wider behind than in front. It is composed of a series of flattened or irregular bones which, with one exception (the mandible), are immovably jointed together. It is divisible into two parts: (1) the cranium, which lodges and protects the brain, consists of eight bones, and (2) the skeleton of the face, of fourteen, as follows:

Skull, 22 bones	Cranium, 8 bones	Occipital.
		Two Parietals.
		Frontal.
		Two Temporals.
		Sphenoidal.
		Ethmoidal.

	Face, 14 bones	Two Nasals.
		Two Maxillæ.
		Two Lacrimals.
		Two Zygomatics.
		Two Palatines.
		Two Inferior Nasal Conchæ.
		Vomer.
		Mandible.

In the Basle nomenclature, certain bones developed in association with the nasal capsule, viz., the inferior nasal conchæ, the lacrimals, the nasals, and the vomer, are grouped as cranial and not as facial bones.

The hyoid bone, situated at the root of the tongue and attached to the base of the skull by ligaments, is described in this section.

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