A DESCRIPTION OF SOME TASMANIAN SKULLS SMITII. 19 



On the I'ight side a similar conditiou exists. The roof q\' the 

 palate is 8 mm. above the level of the alveolar borders. The 

 fossae between the pterygoid plates are shallow. On both sides 

 the vaginal process is free. There is a suture between the 

 basi-occipital and the basi-sphenoid. The posterior condylar 

 fossa on the right side is shallow, and there are two minute 

 foramina in it. The left fossa is still more shallow, and 

 contains one medium-sized foramen. The pharyngeal tubercle 

 is small, but distinct. 



Teeth. — The dental arch is rounded in form. The teeth are 

 all absent, but the sockets show well the form of the roots. 

 The series is uninterrupted and regular. The sockets of the 

 incisors, canines, and bicuspids are all single. The molar 

 sockets show great regularity ; each tooth had possessed two 

 buccal roots and a single large lingual root. The formation of 

 the roots of the wisdoms had not been completed, and probably 

 these teeth had not completely erupted. 



The sutures of the skull are well marked ; none of them 

 are obliterated at any part. Speaking generally, the coronal 

 and lambdoid are simple, and the sagittal is denticulated. The 

 appearance of a metopic suture is, I think, deceptive. 



S. 404. AUSTRALIAX MUSEUM. 



(Plate X., tigs. 1-2 ; Plate xi., tig. 1). 



This is a skull with the lower jaw. The Curator states 

 that it was received from the Tasmanian Museum. Part of 

 the left zygomatic arch is wanting. Twenty-three teeth are 

 missing from their sockets. Otherwise the skull is in good 

 preservation. It is the specimen refei-red to by Klaatsch,* 

 as the skull of a female Tasmanian. It may be described as 

 "adult." With the lower jaw it weighs 22oz. avoirdupois. 



Norma verticalis.-^ — The skull is ovoid in form, with a 

 tendency to pentagonal. The parietal eminences are full and 

 rounded. The triangular area in front of the bregma is 

 fairly marked and evenly rounded, not ridged. The flattening 



*Klaatscli — " The Skull of the Australian Aboriginal," p. 69 et passim. 



