Respiratory System of the Pig

THE NASAL CAVITY

The nostrils are small, and are situated on the flat anterior surface of the rostrum or snout (Rostrum suis). The latter is a short cylindrical projection, with which the upper lip is fused, and is circumscribed by a prominent circular margin. The skin on the snout is thin and highly sensitive; it presents small pores, and scattered over it are fine short hairs. In the snout between the nostrils is the os rostri, which is to be regarded as a special development of the extremity of the septum nasi in adaptation to the habit of rooting. A plate of cartilage, representing the lamina of the alar cartilage of the horse, curves outward and downward from the upper part of the os rostri and a pointed bar of cartilage curves upward from the lower part of the bone in the outer wing of the nostril. The notch between the nasal bone and the premaxilla is closed in by parietal cartilages which resemble those of the ox.

The nasal cavity is long and narrow. It is divided behind by a horizontal plate into an upper olfactory part, which leads to the ethmoidal meatuses, and a lower respiratory part, which is a direct continuation of the inferior meatus. The posterior part of the septum is membranous.

The turbinal bones resemble in general those of the ox. The superior meatus is exceedingly small. The middle meatus is a deep fissure between the two turbinals: it divides posteriorly into two branches; one of these extends upward and backward between the lateral mass of the ethmoid bone and the superior turbinal; the other widens and joins the inferior meatus. The opening between the maxillary sinus and the middle meatus lies in a plane through the last cheek teeth. The middle meatus is continuous with the space inclosed by the dorsal part of the inferior turbinal and with the cavity of the superior turbinal. The dorsal division of the middle meatus presents several openings into the frontal sinus. The inferior meatus is relatively roomy; it communicates with the space inclosed by the ventral coil of the inferior turbinal. The opening of the naso-lacrimal duct is found in the posterior part of the inferior meatus. The naso-palatine duct and the vomero-nasal organ (of Jacobson) resemble those of the ox.