[Illustration:  Fig. 14.—­The Skull]

33.  The Face.  The bones of the face serve, to a marked extent, in giving form and expression to the human countenance.  Upon these bones depend, in a measure, the build of the forehead, the shape of the chin, the size of the eyes, the prominence of the cheeks, the contour of the nose, and other marks which are reflected in the beauty or ugliness of the face.

The face is made up of fourteen bones which, with the exception of the lower jaw, are, like those of the cranium, closely interlocked with each other.  By this union these bones help form a number of cavities which contain most important and vital organs.  The two deep, cup-like sockets, called the orbits, contain the organs of sight.  In the cavities of the nose is located the sense of smell, while the buccal cavity, or mouth, is the site of the sense of taste, and plays besides an important part in the first act of digestion and in the function of speech.

The bones of the face are: 

  Two Superior Maxillary,
  Two Malar,
  Two Nasal,
  Two Lachrymal,
  Two Palate,
  Two Turbinated,
  One Vomer,
  One Lower Maxillary.

34.  Bones of the Face.  The superior maxillary or upper jawbones form a part of the roof of the mouth and the entire floor of the orbits.  In them is fixed the upper set of teeth.

The malar or cheek bones are joined to the upper jawbones, and help form the sockets of the eyes.  They send an arch backwards to join the temporal bones.  These bones are remarkably thick and strong, and are specially adapted to resist the injury to which this part of the face is exposed.

The nasal or nose bones are two very small bones between the eye sockets, which form the bridge of the nose.  Very near these bones are the two small lachrymal bones.  These are placed in the inner angles of the orbit, and in them are grooves in which lie the ducts through which the tears flow from the eyes to the nose.

The palate bones are behind those of the upper jaw and with them form the bony part of the roof of the mouth.  The inferior turbinated are spongy, scroll-like bones, which curve about within the nasal cavities so as to increase the surface of the air passages of the nose.

The vomer serves as a thin and delicate partition between the two cavities of the nose.  It is so named from its resemblance to a ploughshare.

[Illustration:  Fig. 15.—­The Base of the Skull.

  A, palate process of upper jawbone;
  B, zygoma, forming zygomatic arch;
  C, condyle for forming articulation with atlas;
  D, foramen magnum;
  E, occipital bone.
]

The longest bone in the face is the inferior maxillary, or lower jaw.  It has a horseshoe shape, and supports the lower set of teeth.  It is the only movable bone of the head, having a vertical and lateral motion by means of a hinge joint with a part of the temporal bone.