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Biomedical Ephemera, or: A Frog for Your Boils

@biomedicalephemera / biomedicalephemera.tumblr.com

A blog for all biological and medical ephemera, from the age of Abraham through the era of medical quackery and cure-all nostrums. Featuring illustrations, history, and totally useless trivia from the diverse realms of nature and medicine. Buy me a coffee so I can stay up and keep the lights on around here!
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Bones, cartilage, and muscles of the larynx.

The laryngeal folds are where voice is produced, and is located just below where the pharynx separates into the esophagus and the larynx. During the swallowing action, if solid matter enters the larynx, a strong coughing reflex is triggered to protect the lungs. This is also triggered at other times, if solid matter touches the glottis. Should that coughing reflex not dislodge the bolus, suffocation can occur.

During puberty, the protective laryngeal cartilage (specifically the thyroid cartilage) expands and forms the Adam's apple - in males, the cartilage fuses at approximately a 90° angle, and in females, it fuses at approximately 120°. Everyone has an Adam's apple! The difference in fusion means that the male vocal cords have more room to grow outward, and form a deeper voice. 

When an adult is hanged, throttled or strangled in a murder, the hyoid bone - the only bone in the body not directly connected to other bones - is almost always cracked or split apart. However, since it does not completely fuse until early adulthood, children and adolescents do not always show this distinctive sign.

Atlas d'Anatomie Descriptive du Corps Humain. C. Bonamy and Paul Broca, 1866.

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