SKELETON OF ARTIODACTYLA. 475 



which are three posterior palatal notches. The pterygoids form 

 no part of the bony palate. 



The follomng differences may be noticed in comparing the 

 skull of the Goat ( Capra Hircus) with that of the Sheep ( Ovis 

 Aries). In the Sheep the postorbital process or plate is broader 

 and more bent outward, forming a deep depression between it 

 and the origin of the horn ; it also turns the plane of the orbit 

 more obliquely forward : in the Goat the aspect of this plane is 

 more directly outward. The occiput is higher in proportion to 

 its breadth in the Goat than in the Sheep. The petrosal is 

 relatively longer and deeper in the Goat than in the Sheep. 

 The nasals are relatively smaller in the Goat, where they are 

 shorter than the premaxillaries ; their upper surface is concave 

 lengthwise, except at the free points, where they are slightly 

 bent doAvn. In the Sheep the nasals are relatively larger, are 

 longer than the premaxillaries, and their whole upper surface is 

 convex lengthwise. There are also differences in the connections 

 of these bones ; in the Sheep the nasals join the lacrymals, rarely 

 the premaxillaries, whilst in the Goat they join the premaxillaries 

 but not the lacrymals, — a vacuity, which is not present or is 

 rudimental in the Sheep, separating them from the lacrymals. 

 The upper border of the maxillary bone is relatively shorter in 

 the Goat, and the anterior border is not notched to receive the 

 upper end of the premaxillary, as it is in the Sheep. The pre- 

 maxillary is narrower at its alveolar end in the Goat, and its 

 upper end rises so as to overlap the side of the nasal : in the 

 Sheep the premaxillary is relatively broader, and rarely rises to 

 touch the nasal. The lacrymal bone of the Goat is shorter in 

 proportion to its breadth, and is not impressed on its facial 

 surface by a lacrymal fossa ; it does not touch the nasal : in the 

 Sheep the lacrymal is longer in proportion to its breadth, and is 

 more regularly quadrate in form ; it joins the nasal, and thus 

 obliterates that vacuity which is present in the skull of the 

 Goat ; its facial plate is usually impressed by a concavity for the 

 cutaneous lacrymal pit. In comparing the upper contour of the 

 skull, from the occipital ridge to the free extremity of the nasal 

 bones, it forms, in the Goat, nearly a right angle, with the two 

 sides equal : in the Sheep it forms a more open angle, with the 

 anterior side twice as long as the posterior one. 



In the skull of the Giraffe {Camelopardalis Giraffa, figs. 325, 

 326), the exoccipitals form a marked protuberance above the 

 foramen magnum and below a deep fossa for the implantation of 

 the ligamentum nuchas. The parietals are chiefly situated on 



