A CLINICAL STUDY OF THE SKULL. 73 



Vessel-grooves within the nasal chamber. — The nasal bone is often 

 marked \Yitli a groove which extends the entire length of the sur- 

 face within the nasal chamber and lies near the maxilla-nasal 

 suture. A similar groove is often found on the ascending process 

 of the maxilla near and parallel to the same suture. 



The temporal ridge, as it is crossed by the coronal suture, is occa- 

 sionally depressed, or the line of the ridge may be said to exhibit a 

 fault at the point of section of the coronal. This arrangement is 

 seen oftener in the skulls of negroes than those of other races.^ 



The temporal ridges divide the dome of the cranium (t. e., the 

 parts included in the sides and vertex of the brain case) into the 

 natural divisions within which the characters of the minor details 

 are distinctive. The vertex between the ridges is almost uniformly 

 marked by more numerous diploic openings (aperturae emissarise). 

 The vessel-grooves are absent. In some examples the strise which 

 radiate from the tubera medianw^ard and backward are retained 

 and distinguish the adult cranium." 



In narrow "ill-filled" skulls the temporal ridge may overlie the 

 parietal tuber, as I have observed in a cranium of a convict, or 

 greatly underlie it, as is seen in No. 77 of the College of Physicians 

 collection. 



Among the processes of bone which were noticed in the course of 

 the examination may be mentioned the following : 



A number of small but stout spines, each measuring a millimetre 

 or two millimetres in length, which were appended to the frontal 

 portion of the temporal ridge and directed downward ; the spines 



^ The following are the numbers of negro crania in A. N. S. showing this 

 peculiarity: No. 912, to a marked degree; also 975, 1102, 920, 994, 1094, 

 918, 907, 902, 913. 



The ridge is well seen in No. 1300, Sandwich Islander ; 10G4, German ; 

 207, Puget Sound ; 133, Cossack ; 89, Adrian ; 99, Armenian (the four 

 last named are in the College of Physicians). 



^ The temporal ridges often limit the distribution of morbid processes and 

 the changes due to old age. The diameter of the vertex measured between 

 the two temporal ridges varies greatly in individuals. In tapeinocephalic 

 and in all long, narrow crania the distance is smaller than in other types. 



