Tables of the Skeleton and Muscles of the Human Body. Translated from Latin

1746

Hist. Coll. WE17 A337

London: Woodfall

Anatomists often have difficulty in isolating the platysma (latissimus colli) muscle in dissections (see figure XVI). This is because the platysma, found in the neck, is a thin-layered muscle with fibres difficult to distinctly separate from adjoining tissues. There is often variation. Much time would have been taken in dissection and the precise documentation of the platysma’s coursing and regions of insertion. The ideal conditions for dissection were found in cool, well ventilated rooms. Because there were no preservatives in Albinus’s day, the decay of each cadaver was rapid.