Author: Outlander Anatomist

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Fun Fact: Clavicle

 

Outlander episode 313, Eye of the Storm 

Anatomy def: Either of two slender bones of the upper limb, each clavicle extends horizontally from sternum (breastbone) to respective scapula (shoulder blade). Clavicles are commonly known as collarbones (one word) because of their proximity to the collar of a donned garment.

Outlander def: Clavicles are powerful bones Jamie joyfully shares with Claire aboard the Artemis! Put yer wee bonny fingers on them, dearest Auntie Claire! <G>

Learn about clavicles in Anatomy Lesson #3, Bad Day at Cocknammon Rock or Wee Bonny Fingers on my Collar Bone!

You might be interested in this anatomical tidbit: In humans, clavicles act as struts to position shoulder joints and arms at the sides of the body. Positioning our upper limbs to our sides allows for much greater ranges of motion. Without clavicles, our shoulders would drop in front of the chest, like those of a cat, dog or horse! Our upper limbs could move forwards and backwards, but no slow pitch or jumping jacks with those limitations!

Why, might you ask, is the clavicle named for a Latin word meaning, door bolt? Well, clavicles are the only horizontally-oriented long bones of the body and to early anatomists, they looked a bit like ye olde door bolts of by-gone eras.

Read about clavicles in Voyager book! Actually, keep your eye out, Herself often describes collarbones in all Outlander books.

“Perhaps it does. Shall I try sometime?” The hollow of his throat lay just by my face, sunburned and delicate, showing the faint white triangle of a scar just above the wide arch of his collarbone. I set my lips on the pulsebeat there, and he shivered, though neither of us was cold any longer.

and again:

“Do you want me now?” I whispered, and kissed the sunburned flesh in the hollow above his collarbone. His skin was faintly salty to the taste, and his hair smelled of woodsmoke and pungent maleness.

See Jamie’s clavicles drenched in sunbeams from windows of the Artemis. – a splendid temptation for canny, clever Claire!

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Photo Credits: Sony/Starz, Pinterest

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Fun Fact: os nasale

Starz episode 306, A. Malcolm

Anatomy def: The ossa nasale are small paired bones forming the bridge of nose. These support the softer cartilage sides and tip of nose.

Outlander def: Delicate nose bones in peril as arduous sweethearts bump-thump: Jamie’s hard head meets Claire’s delicate bridge of nose. Och! What a memorable moment for the two lovers, underscoring 20 years of absence!!! 

Learn about ossa nasale in Anatomy Lesson #28, Claire’s Nose – The Savvy Sniffer!

Diana’s books are replete with examples of Claire sniffing out all manner of splendors, offenders and defenders! Intact ossa nasale provide the very best nasal architecture for her (and us) to sample odors, smells, scents, aromas, fragrances, reeks, stinks, miasmas, whiffs, flavors, fetors, airs, aurae, stenches and funks. Claire’s savvy sniffer does ‘em all!

Read about Claire’s ossa nasale in Voyager book. The two-decades, long-awaited moment is interrupted with a head-to-nose kebby-lebby!

My nose hit his forehead with a sickening crunch. My eyes watered profusely as I rolled away from him, clutching my face. “Ow!”

“Christ, have I hurt ye, Claire?” Blinking away the tears, I could see his face, hovering anxiously over me. “No,” I said stupidly. “My nose is broken, though, I think.” “No, it isn’t,” he said, gently feeling the bridge of my nose. “When ye break your nose, it makes a nasty crunching sound, and ye bleed like a pig. It’s all right.” 

I felt gingerly beneath my nostrils, but he was right; I wasn’t bleeding. The pain had receded quickly, too. As I realized that, I also realized that he……

Psst….for the rest of this passage,….. read the book! <G>

See Och! See Jamie’s head smack the bridge of Claire’s nose and Claire grip her ossa nasale in Outlander, episode 306, A. Malcolm! Laddie, yer heid is as hard as an iron pot, or so says your sister, Jenny! ?

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Photo Credit: Sony/Starz

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Fun Fact: Iris

 

Starz, Outlander episode 307, Creme de Menthe

Anatomy Def:  Flat, colored, ring-shaped layer behind the cornea of the eye, with an adjustable circular opening (pupil) in the center. In Greek mythology Iris was goddess of rainbows, an apt metaphor for the many colors of the human iris.

Outlander def: “Claire!”… His goddess, as far as Jamie’s bonny blue irises are concerned. His orbs fix on a face – not seen in 20 years! And, Claire’s irises fix on her soul mate:

Sing me a song of gal who’s not gone,

Say, could that lass be Claire?

Some were dead wrong, as she loves her man strong,

Challenge her will if you dare!

Jamie’s her man,

She belongs to his clan,

She’s part of his blood and bone!

Her eyes are for him; she’ll risk life and limb,

‘Till their life on earth shall be done!

Learn about irises in Anatomy Lesson #31, An Aye for an Eye. Irises are shaped a bit like those old 45 records: thin and flat with a hole in the center. The hole in the center of an iris is the pupil. Pupil diameter increases when the dilator pupillae muscle contracts; its diameter decreases when the constrictor pupillae muscle contracts.

Read about Jamie’s eyes in Voyager book: 

“You’re real,” he whispered. I had thought him pale already. Now all vestiges of color drained from his face. His eyes rolled up and he slumped to the floor in a shower of papers and oddments that had been sitting on the press—he fell rather gracefully for such a large man, I thought abstractedly.

See Jamie’s blue irises in Starz, Outlander episode 307, Creme de Menthe. He canna believe his irises! She’s baaack!!!!

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Photo Credit: Sony/Starz