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Home  »  Anatomy of the Human Body  »  pages 182

Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.

pages 182

is the median nuchal line ending above at the external occipital protuberance, while on either side are the superior and inferior nuchal lines; these, as well as the surfaces of bone between them, are rough for the attachment of the muscles which are enumerated on pages 129 and 130.


FIG. 188– Side view of the skull. (See enlarged image)

Norma Lateralis (Fig. 188).—When viewed from the side the skull is seen to consist of the cranium above and behind, and of the face below and in front. The cranium is somewhat ovoid in shape, but its contour varies in different cases and depends largely on the length and height of the skull and on the degree of prominence of the superciliary arches and frontal eminences. Entering into its formation are the frontal, the parietal, the occipital, the temporal, and the great wing of the sphenoid. These bones are joined to one another and to the zygomatic by the following sutures: the zygomaticotemporal between the zygomatic process of the temporal and the temporal process of the zygomatic; the zygomaticofrontal uniting the zygomatic bone with the zygomatic process of the frontal; the sutures surrounding the great wing of the sphenoid, viz., the sphenozygomatic in front, the sphenofrontal and sphenoparietal above, and the sphenosquamosal behind. The sphenoparietal suture varies in length in different skulls, and is absent in those cases where the frontal articulates with the temporal squama. The point corresponding with the posterior end of the sphenoparietal suture is named the pterion; it is situated about 3 cm. behind, and a little above the level of the zygomatic process of the frontal bone.