202 EDWARD L. RICE 
pterygoideus, which complicates the problem. Both of these 
connections are noted by Gaupp in Lacerta. The presence of 
the meniscus is recorded in Sphenodon by Gaupp (’05 b) and in 
Emys by Fuchs (’12) and Kunkel (12 b). In Emys, according 
to Kunkel, it is rudimentary and soon disappears; the disappear- 
ance is interpreted as probably due to fusion with the ‘crista 
basipterygoidea.’ I find no mention of the meniscus in the 
crocodiles. 
The forward part of the palato-pterygo-quadrate cartilage is 
represented in Eumeces by the posterior maxillary process (fig. 
3, pr.maz.p.) and its posterior palatine extension (pr.maz.p’.), 
already described in connection with the ethmoid region (p..191). 
In Lacerta the posterior extension of the process is reduced to a 
series of isolated cartilage islands. Between the processus maxil- 
laris posterior and the processus pterygoideus, the palato-pterygo- 
quadrate cartilage, continuous in the Anura, is interrupted in 
the Reptilia by a varying degree of degeneration. In Eumeces 
(fig. 3) and Lacerta the gap is very considerable, and in Vipera 
(Peyer, ’12) the degeneration has reached its extreme in the loss 
of the entire structure anterior to the quadrate. On the other 
hand, a more primitive condition is retained in Sphenodon 
(Schauinsland, ’03; Gaupp, ’05 b; Fuchs, ’09), in which the two 
processes are much more closely approximated—a condition only 
slightly removed from the continuity of the anuran. 
3. Ventral division—Meckel’s cartilage 
Meckel’s cartilage (fig. 4), forming the ventral division of the 
mandibular arch, is essentially as in Lacerta. The surface for 
articulation with the quadrate is slightly saddle-shaped—concave 
in the parasagittal plane and convex in the horizontal. Posterior 
to the joint, the cartilage is extended into a long retroarticular 
process (fig. 4, pr.ret.), which is strongly compressed in a nearly 
dorsoventral direction (figs. 17 and 18). In front of the articu- 
lation, the cartilage is almost circular in cross-section (figs. 20, 
21, and 24, c.meck.), except at the extreme anterior end, near 
the symphysis, where it becomes laterally compressed (fig. 28). 
The two rami meet in an acute angle, lie in contact for some 
