Dissect, or study a model or diagram of these branch arteries, and then the facts are easily learned by means of Correlations:—
| CAROTID | … rotten … ruinous … ivy (eight branches) … growth … advance … go forwards … | |
| Forwards | … lead forwards … conduct … ductless … | Thyroid |
| … spheroid … earth … many languages … | Lingual | |
| … tongue … mouth … face … | Facial | |
| … front … back… | ||
| Backwards | … back of head … occiput … | Occipital |
| … occult … secret … confession … | Auricular | |
| … ocular … eye … high up… | ||
| Upwards | … ascending… | Ascending Pharyngeal |
| … congeal … frozen Thames … temporary… | Temporal | |
| … pour out shot … Maxim gun or “be temperate” … maxim … | Maxillary |
To memorise the attachments of muscles, first of all familiarise yourself by diligent dissection with the aspects of the muscles and the actual facts of their attachments. It is possible to memorise their origins and insertions by my System, merely from their written descriptions; but this is not learning. It is a vicious system of cramming, which can do no good. When you have thoroughly familiarised yourself with the actual facts proceed to fix these facts in your memory by my System. In dealing with facts of such complexity as the origin and insertion of muscles, it may be needful to have free recourse to the assistance of homophones, &c. In the whole of anatomy there is no task so difficult as that of learning the precise attachments of the muscles of the back. Few students master these attachments thoroughly, and those who do, fail to retain them long.
- Are all students required to learn extracts from Quain’s Anatomy?
- How many branches are there of the External Carotid Artery?
- Describe them.
- Is it an advantage in studying Anatomy to dissect or study a model?
- How are the facts, then, easily learned?
- Make original correlations for this Extract.
- Do you use any unfamiliar words in your correlations?
- How do you memorise the attachments of muscles?
- Is it possible to memorise their origins and insertions by my System?
- Is this learning?
- What is it then?
By the System it is easy to learn facts of Anatomy. But the System is no substitute for dissection and experiment. You can get a comprehension of anatomical facts only by actual experience, and to attempt to require an understanding of them from books is to substitute a knowledge of words for a knowledge of things.
The following will indicate one way in which you may proceed in memorising the attachments of the muscles of the back:
- (1) First make a homophone of the name of the muscle.
- (2) Indicate each attachment of the muscle by two words.
- The initial letter of the first word should indicate the part of bone to which the muscle is attached, e.g., Sp = spinous process, T = transverse process, R = rib, &c. The second word should indicate by its consonants the numbers of the bones to which the attachment is made.
- (3) Correlate the homophone of the muscle to the first pair of words, and the first pair to the second pair. For example:
“The Splenius Colli is attached, inferiorly, to the spinous processes of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth dorsal vertebræ, and superiorly to the transverse processes of the first two or three cervical vertebræ.”
spleniuS COLLi (homophone) SCOLD.
SCOLD … cold … marble … SPLENDID IMAGE …
gold statuette … chimney ornament … clock … ’TIS TIME.
In the first pair of words the initial of Splendid shows that the attachment is to the Spinous processes, and the word Image indicates that the vertebræ implicated are the third to the sixth. The second pair show that the transverse processes, from the first to the third, are those into which the muscle is inserted.