Anatomy of the (human) neck
In the middle line below the chin can be felt the
body of the
hyoid bone, just below which is the prominence of
the
thyroid cartilage[?] called "
Adam's apple[?]," better marked
in men than in women. Still lower the
cricoid cartilage[?] is
easily felt, while between this and the
suprasternal notch[?]
the
trachea and isthmus of the
thyroid gland may be made
out. At the side the outline of the
sterno-mastoid muscle[?]
is the most striking mark; it divides the anterior triangle
of the neck from the posterior. The upper part of the former
contains the
submaxillary gland[?], which lies just below the
posterior half of the body of the
jaw. The line of the
common and the external
carotid arteries[?] may be marked by
joining the sterno-clavicular articulation to the angle of the
jaw.
The eleventh or spinal accessory nerve[?] corresponds
to a line drawn from a point midway between the angle
of the jaw and the mastoid process to the middle of the
posterior border of the sterno-mastoid muscle and thence
across the posterior triangle to the deep surface of the
trapezius. The external jugular vein[?] can usually be seen
through the skin; it runs in a line drawn from the angle of
the jaw to the middle of the clavicle, and close to it are
some small lymphatic glands. The anterior jugular vein[?] is
smaller, and runs down about half an inch from the middle
line of the neck. The clavicle or collar-bone forms the
lower limit of the neck, and laterally the outward slope of
the neck to the shoulder is caused by the trapezius muscle.
- (from an old encyclopedia)
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