Neck

Neck. In the middle line of the front of the neck just beneath the skin is the cartilaginous framework of the larynx, the prominent thyroid cartilage being readily distinguishable in that situation. Just above the upper margin of this cartilage is situated the hyoid bone. The prominent muscles which stand out on either side when the head is turned to the right or left are the sternomastoids. Just within the inner borders of these muscles the pulsation of the carotid artery can be distinctly felt; this vessel is accompanied in its course by the internal jugular vein and the pneumogastric nerve; the externai jugular vein lies more superficially, and can be distinctly seen as a blue line beneath the skin in the neck of a thin subject. The thyroid gland, the lobes of which lie on either side of the wings of the thyroid cartilage, is not, as a rule, a prominent object, unless enlarged by disease, in which case it produces the disfigurement associated with goitrous affection. A stiff neck is commonly due to painful affection of the muscles of the neck, mainly the sterno-mastoids; in rare instances what is described as stiff-neck may be (Jue to disease of deeper-lying structures.