DEPARTMENT OF EMBRYOLOGY. 97 



STUDIES CONCERNING INDIVIDUAL SYSTEMS 



Under this heading I will refer first to a group of papers which 

 concern problems of the bony and muscular systems, and later will 

 take up other papers falling into three groups: Vascular system, 

 genito-urinary system, and central nervous system. 



In order to ascertain the differences existing between whites and 

 negroes in the relation of the external nose to the bony nose and 

 nasal cartilages, Dr. Adolf H. Schultz studied the subject in a number 

 of skulls of both races, ranging from the eighth month of intrauterine 

 life to the adult stage, and including male and female. The height of 

 the external nose corresponds to the nasion-subspinal point measure- 

 ment, but the subnasal and subspinal points do not lie in the same 

 level. In fetuses the subspinal point lies below, in adults above the 

 subnasal point. The difference between the two measurements in 

 favor of the external nose is greater in negroes. The external nasal 

 breadth and the breadth of the apertura piriformis are so variable 

 that no correlation could be obtained. The nasal septum and the 

 lateral and greater alar cartilages, on the other hand, show well- 

 marked racial differences. In whites the cartilago septi nasi forms a 

 quadrangle, in most cases a trapezium; in the negro it is triangular. 

 The size of the lateral nasal cartilage varies greatly in both whites 

 and negroes, but in general, in spite of these irregularities, it may be 

 said to be slightly smaller in the latter. In the whites a lower posterior 

 border can be distinguished, but in negroes this is entirely lacking, 

 the lower border running in either a horizontal or posterior-superior 

 direction. The greater alar cartilage may also present great variations 

 in form and size, but on the whole is more developed in the white race. 

 In the intervening space minor alar cartilages are found in varying 

 sizes and numbers. In the whites these were present in 75 per cent, 

 in the negroes in only 30.4 per cent of the cases. The fact that all 

 the nasal cartilages are more developed in the white race is probably 

 attributable to the greater prominence of the nose, and hence a demand 

 for more cartilaginous support. The nose is morphologically a pro- 

 gressive structure, the increase in prominence during growth being 

 due to the reduction of the dental arch. This important study is now 

 being extended by Dr. Schultz to the earlier fetal stages. 



As somewhat related to the preceding topic. Dr. Schultz has studied 

 the occurrence of and factors involved in the formation of the metopic 

 fontanelle, which is an anomaly rather frequently found in the new- 

 born infant. In his paper he describes the presence of an abnormal 

 suture in the skull of a negro 55 years of age, which he interprets as a 

 remnant of that fontanelle. 



In connection wdth the muscular system Dr. Schultz has undertaken 

 a metrical study of the insertion of the pectoralis major and deltoid 

 muscles. The metrical determination of the position of the muscle 



