The Walls of the Orbit

• Each orbit has four walls: superior (roof), medial, inferior (floor) and lateral.
• The medial walls of the orbit are almost parallel with each other and with the superior part of the nasal cavities separating them.
• The lateral walls are approximately at right angles to each other

The Middle Ear

• This part of the ear is in a narrow cavity in the petrous part of the temporal bone.
• It contains air, three auditory ossicles, a nerve and two small muscles.
• The middle ear is separated from the external acoustic meatus by the tympanic membrane.

• This cavity includes the tympanic cavity proper, the space directly internal to the tympanic membrane, and the epitympanic recess, the space superior to it.

• The middle ear is connected anteriorly with the nasopharynx by the auditory tube.
• Posterosuperiorly, the tympanic cavity connects with the mastoid cells through the aditus ad antrum (mastoid antrum).
• The tympanic cavity is lined with mucous membrane that is continuous with the mucous membrane of the auditory tube, mastoid cells, and aditus ad antrum.

Contents of the Tympanic Cavity or Middle Ear

• This cavity contains the auditory ossicles (malleus, incus and stapes); the stapedius and tensor tympani muscles; the chorda tympani nerve (a branch of the facial nerve, CN VII); and the tympanic plexus of nerves.

Superior Constrictor Muscle

• Origin: Hamulus, pterygo-mandibular raphe, and mylohyoid line of the mandible.
• Insertion: Median raphe of the pharynx.
• Nerve Supply: Vagus nerve via the pharyngeal plexus.
• Arterial Supply: Ascending pharyngeal artery, ascending palatine artery, tonsillar branch of the facial artery, and dorsal branch of the lingual artery.
• Action: Constricts the wall of the pharynx during swallowing.

EPITHELIUMS

Epithelial Tissue Epithelial tissue covers surfaces, usually has a basement membrane, has little extracellular material, and has no blood vessels. A basement membrane attaches the epithelial cells to underlying tissues. Most epithelia have a free surface, which is not in contact with other cells. Epithelia are classified according to the number of cell layers and the shape of the cells.

• Epitheliums contain no blood vessels.  There is normally an underlying layer of connective tissue
• Almost all epitheliums lie on a basement membrane.The basement membrane consists of  a basal lamina and  reticular lamina. The reticular lamina is connected to the basal lamina by anchoring fibrils. The reticular lamina may be absent in which case the basement membrane consist only of a basal lamina. The basal lamina consists of a   - lamina densa in the middle (physical barrier) with a lamina lucida on both sides (+charge barrier),The basement membrane is absent in ependymal cells.The basement membrane is not continuous in sinusoidal capillaries.

• Epitheliums always line or cover something
• Epithelial cells lie close together with little intercellular space
• Epithelial cells are strongly connected to one another especially those epitheliums that are subjected to mechanical forces.  

Functions of Epithelium:

→ Simple epithelium involved with diffusion, filtration, secretion, or absorption

→ Stratified epithelium protects from abrasion

→ Squamous cells function in diffusion or filtration

Extrinsic Muscles of the Tongue (p. 746)

The Genioglossus Muscle

• This is a bulky, fan-shaped muscle that contributes to most of the bulk of the tongue.
• It arises from a short tendon from the genial tubercle (mental spine) of the mandible.
• It fans out as it enters the tongue inferiorly and its fibres attach to the entire dorsum of the tongue.
• Its most inferior fibres insert into the body of the hyoid bone.
• The genioglossus muscle depresses the tongue and its posterior part protrudes it.

The Hyoglossus Muscle

• This is a thin, quadrilateral muscle.
• It arises from the body and greater horn of the hyoid bone and passes superoanteriorly to insert into the side and inferior aspect of the tongue.
• It depresses the tongue, pulling its sides inferiorly; it also aids in retrusion of the tongue.

The Styloglossus Muscle

• This small, short muscle arises from the anterior border of the styloid process near its tip and from the stylohyoid ligament.
• It passes inferoanteriorly to insert into the side and inferior aspect of the tongue.
• The styloglossus retrudes the tongue and curls its sides to create a trough during swallowing.

The Palatoglossus Muscle 

• Superior attachment: palatine aponeurosis.
• Inferior attachment: side of tongue.
• Innervation: cranial part of accessory nerve (CN XI) through the pharyngeal branch of vagus (CN X) via the pharyngeal plexus.

• This muscle, covered by mucous membrane, forms the palatoglossal arch.

• The palatoglossus elevates the posterior part of the tongue and draws the soft palate inferiorly onto the tongue.