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Fig. 38.

Fig. 38. The superficial layer of muscles on the face and neck. 1, 1, The occipito-frontalis muscle. 2, The orbicularis palpebrarum. 6, The levator labii superioris 7, The levator anguli oris. 8, The zygomaticus minor. 9, The zygomaticus major 10, The masseter. 11, The depressor labii superioris. 13, The orbicularis oris. 15, The depressor anguli oris. 16, The depressor labii inferioris. 18, The sterno-hyoideus. 19, The platysma-myodes. 20, The superior belly of the omo-hyoideus. 21, The sterno-cleido mastoideus. 20, The scalenus medius. 23, The inferior belly of the omo-hyoideus. 24, The trapezius.[5]

Practical Explanation. The muscle 1, 1, elevates the eyebrows. The muscle 2 closes the eye. The muscle 6 elevates the upper lip. The muscles 7, 8, 9, elevate the angle of the mouth. The muscle 10 brings the teeth together when eating. The muscle 11 depresses the upper lip. The muscle 13 closes the mouth. The muscle 15 depresses the angle of the mouth. The muscle 16 draws down the lower lip. The muscles 18, 19, 20, 23, depress the lower jaw and larynx and elevate the sternum. The muscle 21, when both sides contract, draws the head forward, or elevates the sternum; when only one contracts, the face is turned one side toward the opposite shoulder. The muscles 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, aid in respiration.

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Observation. When we are sick, and cannot take food, the body is sustained by absorption of the fat. The removal of it into the blood causes the sunken cheek, hollow eye, and prominent appearance of the bones after a severe illness.

158. The number of muscles in the human body is more than five hundred; in general, they form about the skeleton two layers, and are distinguished into superficial and deep-seated muscles. Some of the muscles are voluntary in their motions, or act under the government of the will, as those which move the fingers, limbs, and trunk; while others are involuntary, or act under the impression of their proper stimulants, without the control of the individual, as the heart.

Observations. 1st. The abdominal muscles are expiratory, and the chief agents for expelling the residuum from the rectum, the bile from the gall bladder, the contents of the stomach and bowels when vomiting, and the mucus and irritating substances from the bronchial tubes, trachea, and nasal passages by coughing and sneezing. To produce these effects they all act together. Their violent and continued action sometimes produces hernia, and, when spasmodic, may occasion ruptures of the different organs.

2d. The contraction and relaxation of the abdominal muscles and diaphragm stimulate the stomach, liver, and intestines to a healthy action, and are subservient to the digestive powers. If the contractility of their muscular fibres is destroyed or impaired, the tone of the digestive apparatus will be diminished, as in indigestion and costiveness. This is frequently attended by a displacement of those organs, as they generally gravitate towards the lower portion of the abdominal cavity, when the sustaining muscles lose their tone and become relaxed.