Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, Part I: Osteology, or the Bones of the Human Body c7.s3.t6.2

c7.s3.t6.2

2. Beside the two maxillary bones which have been discussed in the preceding paragraph, and the palatal bones which will be discussed in the next paragraph, the face of the skeleton (Fig. 32) comprises the following bones: two malar, two nasal, two lachrymal, two inferior turbinated, and one vomer. Of these bones the five last-mentioned are very small, and lie in the interior of the skull. It cannot, therefore, surprise us that they escaped the observation of the ancient Indian anatomists. The only bones which, forming a portion of the external skull, came under their notice, are the malar and nasal bones of the cheek (gaṇḍa) and nose (nāsā or nāsikā) respectively. But regarding the nature of these bones, and, in fact (as already stated in § 65, cl. 1), regarding the structure of the face generally, the opinions of Ātreya-Charaka and Suśruta differ very considerably. It is on this point that the two systems show one of their two most striking divergences (for the other see § 59, cl. 3).