No. I.] THE CRANIUM IN THE OIVLS. 137 



with the corresponding characters as they occur in the cranium 

 of Suniia fimerea ; its greatest height, as in that species, lies 

 posterior to the orbits. 



The beak is short, thick, and very much hooked ; the mandi- 

 bles, not taking their horny sheath into account, measured 

 from the frontal bones, will enter almost two times (2.8-2.9) 

 into the total length of the cranium ; thus it is shorter than in 

 any other North-European species. 



The surface of the cranium is smooth, without any median 

 furrow ; the forehead, posterior to the supraorbital processes, 

 is very slightly convex, its surface being broad behind them, 

 but progressively narrower in front of them. The f rentals form 

 sharp borders at the posterior parts of the orbits ; the thick- 

 ness [fortykkelse] of the forehead in the neighborhood of the 

 supraorbital processes is less than it is in any other species. 



The thin, semitransparent part of the interorbital septum is 

 extensive ; in the middle of the alisphenoid there is an unossi- 

 fied point, that is occasionally as large as the optic foramen. 



The osseous crest of the squamosal agrees with what we 

 found in Sicrnia fimerea, and though standing well outwards, 

 its process is less produced. When we view the cranium upon 

 its lateral aspect, then the crest conceals from view the poste- 

 rior extremity of the quadrate bone, and, viewed from the 

 front, this is seen outside the orbital wings (that is, the osse- 

 ous crests on the alisphenoids). 



ThQj'jigal is, as in Siirnia funerea, broadest in the middle, 

 inasmuch as its superior border develops in that region a long- 

 ish, low apophysis ; in all the other North-European species 

 the jugal is linear. 



Supraoccipital {squama occipitis) has an oblong supraoccip- 

 ital foramen, that is relatively, as well as absolutely, larger 

 than in any other inland species (vertical diameter 3 mm., 

 transverse diameter 2% mm.).^ 



The pterygoid bones are somewhat broader at their anterior 

 ends, and are there furnished with better developed articular 

 facets for the palatines than they are in Surnia fimerea. 



1 Micropallas also presents this foramen, and in this species it attains a size 

 equal to one-fourth the size of the foramen magnum. — R. W. S. 



