The hard palate has an intermediate layer of bone, supplied anteriorly by paired palatine processes of the maxil lary bones, and posteriorly by the horizontal part of each palate bone. The oral surface of the hard palate is a mucous membrane covered with a stratified squ—amous epithelium. A submucosal layer contains mucous glands and binds the membrane firmly to the periosteum of the bony component. Above the bone is the mucous membrane that forms the floor of the nasal cavity.

The soft palate is a backward continuation from the hard palate. Its free margin connects on each side with two folds of mucous membrane, the palatine arches, enclosing a palatine tonsil. In the midline the margin extends into a fingerlike projection called uvula. The oral side of the soft palate continues as the covering of the hard palate, and the submucosa contains mucous glands. The intermediate layer is a sheet of voluntary muscle.

Besides separating the nasal passages from the mouth, the hard palate is a firm plate, against which the tongue manipulates food. In swallowing and vomiting the soft palate is raised to separate the oral from the nasal portion of the pharynx. This closure prevents food from passing upward into the nasopharynx and nose.

New words

mouth – рот

lips – губы

junction – соединение

distensible – растяжимый

cheeks – щеки

tongue – язык

taste – вкус

chewing – жевание

swallowing – глотание

All mammals are well supplied with oral glands. There are labial glands of the lips, buccal glands of the cheeks, lingual glands of the tongue, and palatine glands of the palate. Besides these, there are larger paired salivary glands. The parotid gland, near each ear, discharges into the vestibule. The submaxillary or submandibular gland lies along the posterior part of the lower jaw; its duct opens well forward under the tongue. The sublingual gland lies in the floor of the mouth. Saliva is a viscid fluid containing a mixture of all the oral secretions. It contains mucus, proteins, salts, and the enzymes ptyalin and maltase. Most of the ptyalin in human saliva is furnished by the parotid gland. The digestive action of saliva is limited to starchy food. Other uses of saliva include the moistening of food for easier manipulation by the tongue, the consequent facilitation of swallowing, and a lubrication by mucus that ensures a smoother passage of food down the esophagus to the stomach. Tonsils are spongy lymphoid tissues at the back of the throat, composed mainly of lymphocytic cells held together by fibrous connective tissue. There are three types of tonsils. The palatine tonsils, usually referred to as «the tonsils», are visible between the arches that extend from the uvula to the floor of the mouth. The pharyngeal tonsils, usually referred to as the adenoids, lie at the back of the throat. The lingual tonsils are on the upper surface of each side of the back of the tongue. The tonsils function to protect the pharynx and the remainder of the body from infectious organisms that become trapped in the mucous membrane lining the mouth, nose and throat. Chronic or acute inflammation of the tonsilses, called the tonsillitis.

The tongue, a muscular organ in the mouth, provides the sense of taste and assists in chewing, swallowing, and speaking. It is firmly anchored by connective tissues to the front and side walls of the pharynx, or throat, and to the hyoid bone in the neck.

The mammalian tongue is divided into two parts by a V—shaped groove, the terminal sulcus. At the apex of this V is a small blind pit, the foramen cecum. The larger part, or body, of the tongue belongs to the floor of the mouth, whereas the root forms the front wall of the oral pharynx. The body of the tongue is separated from the teeth and gums by a deep groove. A midline fold, the frenu—lum, is near he tip on the undersurface. The upper surface of the body, called the dorsum, has a velvety appearance because of filiform papillae. Distributed among these are occasional larger, rounded fungiform papillae and some large conical papillae. Immediately in front of the groove separating the body of the tongue from the root is a series of still larger vallate papillae arranged in a V—shaped row. The apex of the V points down the throat. Posteriorly along each side of the body of the tongue and near the root, is a series of parallel folds constituting the foliate papillae. The surface of the root of the tongue, which belongs to the pharynx, has no papillae but bears nodules containing lymphoid tissue.

New words

buccal – относящийся ко рту или щеке

palatine – небный

salivary glands – слюнные железы

parotid gland – околоушная железа

sublingual – подязыковой

The gastrointestinal tract and associated organs are collectively called the digestive system. This system is responsible for receiving food and breaking it down by using enzymes from the glands and by the movement of the various parts of the intestinal tract; for absorption of these components into the blood; and for eliminating undigested food and certain metabolic wastes from the body. The alimentary canal extends from the mouth to the anus. It is a long tube varying in size and shape depending on what function the particular part performs. The tract has a very good blood sup ply, because food, once it is broken down, has to be absorbed into the bloodstream. The mouth contains the tongue and the teeth and communicates with the salivary glands situated round it. Behind the nose and mouth is the pharynx. Leading from the pharynx is a mus cular tube called the esophagus which passes down the thoracic cavity to the stomach. The stomach lies below the diaphragm in the upper left side, of the abdominal cavity. The opening into the small intestine is called the pylorus and is closed by the pyloric sphincter. The small intestine is a muscular tube coiled up in the abdominal ca vity. It is divided into three parts; the duodenum, the jejunum, and the ilium. The large intestine, also a muscular tube but with wider lumen than the small intestine, is often called the colon. It is divided into several different parts: the, cecum, the ascending colon, the transverse colon, the descending colon, the rectum and the anal canal. The glands belonging to the digestive system are the salivary glands, the liver and the pancreas.

Stomach is probably the most distensible of any in the human body. The proximal portion is the cardiac portion; the portion above the entrance of the esophagus is the fundus; the distal portion is the pyloric part; and the body is between the fundus and the pyloric part.

The coats of the stomach are four: an outer, peritoneal or serous coat; a muscular coat, made up of longitudinal, oblique, and circular fibres; a submucous coat; and tine mucous coat or membrane forming the inner lining.

Gastric glands, which are in mucous coat, secrete gastric juice containing hydrochloric acid and other digestive enzymes into the cavity of the stomach. The glands of the fundus and body moot important in the secretion of gastric juice.

The shape of the stomach varies from individual to individual and from time to time in the same individual depending upon the degree of digestion, degree of contraction, and the age and the body—built of the individual. Frequently in more J—shaped than U—shaped so that its greater curvature can even lie in the greater pelvis. Cardia and fundus are relatively fixed and, hence, tend to move only with the respiratory excursions of the diaphragm.

New words

gastrointestinal tract – желудочно—кишечный тракт

food – пища (еда)

enzymes – ферменты