the external and internal oblique and the transversalis, the fibres
of which become differently directed. In the thoracic region the
intercostals probably indicate a further tangential splitting of the
middle or internal oblique layer, because the external oblique is
continued headward superficially to the ribs and the transversalis
deeply to them. The more cephalic part of the external oblique
layer probably disappears by a process of pressure or crowding out
owing to the encroachment of the serratus magnus, a muscle which
its nerve supply indicates is derived from the lower cervical myotomes.
The deeper parts of the lateral mass of muscles spread to
the ventral surface of the bodies of the vertebrae, and form the
hypaxial muscles—such as the psoas, longus colli and recti capitis
antici. The nerve supply indicates that the lowest myotomes taking
part in the formation of the abdominal walls are those supplied by
the first and second lumbar nerves, and are represented by the
cremaster muscle in the scrotum. In the perineum, however, the
third and fourth sacral myotomes are represented, and these muscles
are differentiated largely from the primitive sphincter which surrounds
the cloacal orifice, though partly from vestigial tail muscles
(see P. Thompson, Journ. Anat. and Phys., vol. xxxv; and R. H.
Paramore, Lancet, May 21, 1910). In the head no distinct myotomes
have been demonstrated in the mammalian embryo, but as they are
present in more lowly vertebrates, it is probable that their development
has been slurred over, a process often found in the embryology
of the higher forms. Probably nine cephalic myotomes originally
existed, of which the first gives rise to the eye muscles supplied by
the third nerve, the second to the superior oblique muscle supplied
by the fourth nerve, and the third to the external rectus supplied by
the sixth nerve. The fourth, fifth and sixth myotomes are suppressed,
but the seventh, eighth and ninth possibly form the muscles
of the tongue supplied by the twelfth cranial nerve.
Turning now to the branchial arches, the first branchiomere is innervated by the fifth cranial nerve, and to it belong the masseter, temporal, pterygoids, anterior belly of the digastric, mylo-hyoid, tensor tympani and tensor palati, while from the second branchiomere, supplied by the seventh or facial nerve, all the facial muscles of expression and the stylo-hyoid and posterior belly of the digastric are derived, as well as the platysma, which is one of the few remnants of the panniculus carnosus or skin musculature of the lower mammals. From the third branchiomere, the nerve of which is the ninth or glossopharyngeal, the stylo-pharyngeus and upper part of the pharyngeal constrictors are formed, while the fourth and fifth gill arches give rise to the muscles of the larynx and the lower part of the constrictors supplied by the vagus or tenth nerve. It is possible that parts of the sterno-mastoid and trapezius are also branchial in their origin, since they are supplied by the spinal accessory or eleventh nerve, but this is unsettled. The limb musculature is usually regarded as a sleeve-like outpushing of the external oblique stratum of the lateral ventral musculature of the trunk, and it is believed that parts of several myotomes are in this way pushed out in the growth of the limb bud. This process actually occurs in the lower vertebrates, and the nerve supplies provide strong presumptive evidence that this is the real phylogenetic history of the higher forms, though direct observation shows that the limb muscles of mammals are formed from the central mesoderm of the limb and at first are quite distinct from the myotomes of the trunk. A possible explanation of the difficulty is that this is another example of the slurring over of stages in phylogeny, but this is one of many obscure morphological points. The muscles of each limb are divided into a dorsal and ventral series, supplied by dorsal and ventral secondary divisions of the nerves in the limb plexuses, and these correspond to the original position of the limbs as they grow out from the embryo, so that in the upper extremity the back of the arm, forearm and dorsum of the hand are dorsal, while in the lower the dorsal surface is the front of the thigh and leg and the dorsum of the foot.
For further details see Development of the Human Body, by J. P. McMurrich (London, 1906), and the writings of L. Bolk, Morphol. Jahrb. vols. xxi-xxv.
Comparative Anatomy.
In the acrania (e.g. amphioxus) the simple arrangement of myotomes and myocommata seen in the early human embryo is permanent. The myotomes or muscle plates are < shaped, with their apices pointing towards the head end, each being supplied by its own spinal nerve. In the fishes this arrangement is largely persistent, but each limb of the < is bent on itself, so that the myotomes have now the shape of a ᕒ, the central angle of which corresponds to the lateral line of the fish. In the abdominal region, however, the myotomes fuse and rudiments of the recti and obliqui abdominis muscles of higher types are seen. In other regions too, such as the fins of fish and the tongue of the Cyclostomata (lamprey), Specialized muscular bundles are separated off and are coincident with the acquirement of movements of these parts in different directions. In the Amphibia the limb musculature becomes much more complex as the joints are formed, and many of the muscles can be homologized with those of mammals, though this is by no means always the case, while, in the abdominal region, a superficial delamination occurs, so that in many forms a superficial and deep rectus abdominis occurs as well as a cutaneus abdominis delaminated from the external oblique. It is probable that this delamination is the precursor of the panniculus carnosus or skin musculature of mammals. The branchial musculature also becomes much more complex, and the mylo-hyoid muscle, derived from the first branchial arch and lying beneath the floor of the mouth, is very noticeable and of great importance in breathing.
In the reptiles further differentiation of the muscles is seen, and with the acquirement of costal respiration the external and internal, intercostals are formed by a delamination of the internal oblique stratum. In the dorsal region several of the longitudinal muscles which together make up the erector spinae are distinct, and a very definite sphincter cloacae is formed round and cloacal aperture. In mammals certain muscles vary in their attachments or presence and absence in different orders, sub-orders and families, so that, were it not for the large amount of technical knowledge required in recognizing them, they might be useful from a classificatory point of view. There is, however, a greater gap between the musculature of Man and that of the other Primates than there is between many different orders, and this is usually traceable either directly or indirectly to the assumption of the erect position.
The chief causes which produce changes of musculature are: (1) splitting, (2) fusion, (3) suppression either partial or complete, (4) shifting of origin, (5) shifting of insertion, (6) new formation, (7) transference of part of one muscle to another. In many of these cases the nerve supply gives an important clue to the change which has been effected. Splitting of a muscular mass is often the result of one part of a muscle being used separately, and a good example of this is the deep flexor mass of the forearm. In the lower mammals this mass rises from the flexor surface of the radius and ulna, and supplies tendons to the terminal phalanges of all five digits, but in man the thumb is used separately, and, in response to this, that part of the mass which goes to the thumb is completely split off into a separate muscle, the flexor longus pollicis. The process, however, is going farther, for we have acquired the habit of using our index finger alone for many purposes, and the index slip of the flexor profundus digitorum is in us almost as distinct a muscle as the flexor longus pollicis. Fusion may be either collateral or longitudinal. The former is seen in the case of the flexor carpi ulnaris. In many mammals (e.g. the dog), there are two muscles inserted separately into the pisiform bone, one rising from the internal condyle of the humerus, the other from the olecranon process, but in many others (e.g. man) the two muscles have fused. Longitudinal fusion is seen in the digastric, where the anterior belly is part of the first (mandibular) branchial arch and the posterior of the second or hyoid arch; in this case, as one would expect, the anterior belly is supplied by the fifth nerve and the posterior by the seventh. Partial suppression of a muscle is seen in the rhomboid sheet; in the lower mammals this rises from the head, neck and anterior (cephalic) thoracic spines, but in man the head and most of the neck part is completely suppressed. Complete suppression of a muscle is exemplified in the omo-trachelian, a muscle which runs from the cervical vertebrae to the acromian process and fixes the scapula for the strong action of the triceps in pronograde mammals; in man this strong action of the triceps is no longer needed for progression, and the fixing muscle has disappeared. Shifting of origin is seen in the short head of the biceps femoris. This in many lower mammals (e.g. rabbit) is a muscle running from the tail to the lower leg; in many others (e.g. monkeys and man) the origin has slipped down to the femur, and in the great anteater it is evident that the agitator caudae has been used as a muscle slide, because the short head of the biceps or tenuissimus has once been found rising from the surface of this muscle. Shifting of an insertion is not nearly as common as shifting of an origin; it is seen, however, in the peroneus tertius of man, in which part of the extensor longus digitorum has acquired a new attachment to the base of the fifth metatarsal bone. The new formation of a muscle is seen in the stylo-hyoideus alter, an occasional human muscle; in this the stylo-hyoid ligament has been converted into a muscle. The transference of part of one muscle to another is well shown by the human adductor magnus; here the fibres which pass from the tuber ischii to the condyle of the femur’ have a nerve supply from the great sciatic instead of the obturator, and in most lower mammals are a separate part of the hamstrings known as the presemimembranosus.
For further details see Bronn’s Classen und Ordnungen des Thierreichs; “The Muscles of Mammals,” by F. G. Parsons, Jour. Anat. and Phys. xxxii. 428; also accounts of the musculature of mammals, by Windle and Parsons, in Proc. Zool. Soc. (1894, seq.); Humphry, Observations in Myology (1874). (F. G. P.)
MUSES, THE (Gr. Μοῦςαι, the thinkers), in Greek mythology, originally nymphs of springs, then goddesses of song, and, later, of the different kinds of poetry and of the arts and sciences generally. In Homer, who says nothing definite as to their names or number, they are simply goddesses of song, who dwell among the gods on Olympus, where they sing at their banquets under the leadership of Apollo Musagetes. According to Hesiod
(Theog. 77), who first gives the usually accepted names and number, they were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the personification of memory; others made them children of
