Page:Structure and functions of the body; a hand-book of anatomy and physiology for nurses and others desiring a practical knowledge of the subject (IA structurefunctio00fiskrich).pdf/59

 large, bat-shaped bone and articulates with all the cranial and many of the facial bones, binding them all together. It has a body, two large wings, and two lesser wings and, appears on the outside of the skull between the frontal and the temporal bones behind the zygomatic process. In the adult the body of the sphenoid is hollowed out into the sphenoid sinuses, in which pus sometimes forms.

The Ethmoid Bone.—In front of and below the sphenoid and extending forward to the frontal bone is the ethmoid, the last of the cranial bones. It consists of a horizontal cribriform or sieve-like plate, from either side of which depend lateral masses of ethmoid cells. To the inner side of these masses are attached the thin curved turbinated bones, superior and middle, while between them is a vertical plate that forms the bony septum of the nose. Rising from the upper surface of the cribriform plate is another vertical plate, the crista galli, with the olfactory grooves on either side for the reception of the olfactory bulbs, filaments of the olfactory nerve passing down through the perforations of the cribriform plate to the nose. For the brain, which fills almost the entire cavity of the cranium, is supported by the sphenoid and ethmoid bones internally, as it is protected externally by the other cranial bones.

Ossification of Sutures.—If premature ossification of all the sutures occurs, idiocy results, while in cephalocele there is a gap in the ossifying of the bones so that the membranes or brain protrude. In rickets the forehead is high and square and the face bones poorly developed, so that the head looks larger than it really is. In Paget's disease the bones enlarge and soften. This affects the head but not the face and often the first thing noticed is that the hat is too small. Craniotabes is thinning of the bone in places, the bone becoming like parchment and being easily bent. It is generally caused by pressure of the pillow or the nurse's arm.

Bones of the Face.—The facial bones serve to form the various features of the face, which after all are merely