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86 ANATOMY.
with the malar bone. It gives origin to a portion of the masseter
muscle.
The Palate Process, with its fellow of the opposite side, forms about
three-fourths of the hard palate, the same process of the palate bones
making up the remaining fourth. This process has two surfaces. The
nasal or superior surface is smooth and concave from side to side ; the
oral or inferior surface is vaulted and roughened to give attachment to
the muco-periosteum.' It is also marked by numerous small depressions
for the lodgment of the mucous glands. Its anterior half is pierced by
minute foramina for the passage of nutrient vessels, and the antero-pos-
terior grooves on the posterior half are for the accommodation of the
posterior palatine nerves and vessels.
The Anterior Border of this process, where it fuses with the premax-
illa (see paragraph on development of superior maxilla, p. 88), is thick
and roughened, while its posterior border is thin, serrated, and articu-
lates with the palate bone.
The Mesial Border of this process and that of the premaxilla: is
thicker before than behind, and is serrated for articulation with its fel-
low of the opposite side.
The Nasal Spine.—The anterior border of the palate process is smooth
and concave; it terminates superiorly in a well-defined spine, which
gives attachment to the cartilage which forms the anterior portion of
the septum of the nose.
The Incisor Crest is a sharp projection just posterior and continuous
with the nasal spine, and between it and the incisor foramen.
The Nasal Crest is an elevation of the median border of this bone,
including the same border of the jxdate bone. These when joined form
the nasal crest for articulation witli the vomer.
The Incisor Foramen (or foramen of Stenson) is situated immediately
behind the incisor crest, and leads downward and forward from the nasal
Y^Q og chamber toward the oral cavity, terminating just
back of the incisor teeth. As this foramen ex-
tends downward, it is soon converted into a
groove by the deficiency of its inner wall. In
the articulated bones this groove forms the ante-
rior ])a]atinc meatus or canal, and opens on the
nasal surface of the palatal process through four
The Anterior Palatine Fossa, It fbramiua—the incisivc foramina iust described,
will be found to contain four i ' /• • n ci i i
openings-two i.iaceri latir- and tuc loramiua oi ocariw or the naso-iiala-
ailv, 1 ,•_', and two in thy niitl- ,• t> • rp, ^ '^ . i ,
die, one (4) before the other tiue toranumi. 1 lie meatus IS seen as a single
*"•
orifice back of the incisor teeth at the point of
union of the prcmaxillary l)oiics witli the ])a]atal processes.
The Foramina of Scarpa, or Naso-p(dati)ie Foramina, are situated in
the ])lates of bone that separate the upper part of the incisor foramina,
and are anterior and posterior or directly in the mesial line, the posterior
opening transmitting the right and tiie anterior the left naso-palatine
nerves.
The Alveolar ]*rocess extends fi)rwar(l from the tuberosity, along the
'inferior margins of the zygomatic and ficial surfaces, to the median line
^ Harrison Allen, Human Anulomu.