The home book of health and medicine : being a popular treatise on the means of avoiding and curing diseases, and of preserving the health and vigour of the body to the latest period : including also an account of the nature and properties of remedies : the treatment of the diseases of women and children, and the management of pregnancy and parturition / by a physician of Philadelphia.

  • Horner, William E. (William Edmonds), 1793-1853.
Date:
1834
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The home book of health and medicine : being a popular treatise on the means of avoiding and curing diseases, and of preserving the health and vigour of the body to the latest period : including also an account of the nature and properties of remedies : the treatment of the diseases of women and children, and the management of pregnancy and parturition / by a physician of Philadelphia. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    nest bones of the cranium. These bones are joined before to the frontal; at their long inferior angles, to the sphenoid bone ; at their lower edge, to the temporal bones; behind, to the occipital bone; and above, to one another. In a child born at full time, none of the sides of this bone are completed, and the brain is in general not completely surrounded by a bony case, till six or seven years of age. The temporal bones are equal and smooth above, where they terminate in a semicir- cular edge, which is laid over the inferior part of each of the parietal bones, as the scales of fish are placed over each other. Behind this, the upper part of the temporal bone is thicker, and more unequal. To- wards the base of the scull, the temporal bone is very irregular and unequal, and be- comes contracted into an oblong, very hard substance ; which being extended forwards and inwards, becomes smaller, and is called the stony part, and contains the inter- nal pai'ts of the organ of hearing. This bone has three remarkable projections. The first, placed at the lower and posterior part of the bone, directly below the ear, is from its resemblance to a nipple called mastoid. Within, it is composed of small cells, which have a communication with the organs of hearing. About an inch far- ther forward, the second process begins to rise from the bone; and having its origin continued obliquely downwards and for- wards, it becomes smaller, and is at length united with a corresponding process of the cheek bone. In this manner is formed a bony yoke, under which the temporal mus- cle passes. From the inferior part of the temporal bone the third process stands out obliquely forwards; the shape of it has been thought to resemble the. ancient stylus or pen, and it is therefore called the styloid process. The chief use of these processes is to afford attachment to muscles. The occipital bone, so called from its si- tuation at the back part of the head, like the other bones of the cranium, is exter- nally convex, and internally concave. Its figure is an irregular square, of which the angle above is generally a little rounded; and the lower angle is extended to the in- is often very thin. The occipital bone is connected above to the parietal bones ; la- terally to the temporal bones; and below, it is firmly connected to the sphenoid bone, by means of the cuneiform process. The ethmoid, or seive-like bone, derives its name from the numerous small aper- tures with which it is pierced. It is situated at the fore part of the basis of the scull, be- tween the orbits of the eyes, and extends downwards into the cavity of the nose. The plate of the ethmoid which forms part of the base of the scull, is pierced by a number of small holes through which the nerve of smelling passes into the nose. The rest of the bone is made up of cells, and convoluted plates of bone, all of which are covered with a continuation of the mem- brane of the nostrils, and serve to enlarge the organ of smelling, by allowing the membrane of the nose a greater extent. The sphenoid or wedge-like bone, which is so called from its situation in the middle of the bones of the cranium and face, is of a very irregular figure, and bears some resemblance to a bat, with its wings extended. It is connected with all the bones of the scull, and several of those of the face. The scull, when seen from above, and when the forehead is placed next the eye, in form very much resembles that of an egg; the frontal bone corresponding to the smaller end of it, and the occipital bone to the greater. When seen in any other point of view, however, this resemblance is not perceptible. The sides of the scull are flat, and the lower part irregular. The size of the head, in a well-formed per- son, is to the rest of the body as one to nine. The substance of the bones of the scull is in general made up of two tables or plates, with the interposition of a spongy substance. The external table is thicker, smoother, and covered with the periosteum; the internal is thinner, more uneven, more brittle, and is lined with a thick vascular membrane, called the dura mater. The bones of the head are united to each other by a number of tooth-like pro- cesses ; and these joinings are called su- ferior part of the cranium, in the form of a tures. The coronal suture runs across the head, and connects the frontal bone to the parietal bones. The sagittal suture divides the upper part of the head into two equal parts. It connects the two parietal bones to each other, and passes from the middle of the frontal to the middle of the occipital bone. The lambdoidal suture is interposed be- tween the back and fore parts of the cra- nium, or between the occipital and two parietal bones. The two squamous'sutures wedge, and is thence called the cuneiform process. At the base of this triangular pro- cess, on each side of the great opening, through which passes the spinal marrow, are observed two large oblong eminences, called the condyles, which serve for the articulation of the cranium with the first vertebra of the neck. The occipital bone at its upper part, where it is chiefly exposed to injury, is very thick and strong; but lower down, where it is protected by the strong and connect the temporal bones to the parie- thick muscles which are inserted into it, it tal.