No. 2.] MORPHOLOGY OF THE MYXINOIDEI. 21 1 



is firmly attached by ligaments to the pharyngeal wall, just 

 anterior and internal to the short anterior process from the 

 hyoid arch. About the middle of the external lateral velar 

 bars, in the region of the first branchial arch, the anterior ends 

 of the internal lateral velar bars are attached. From this point 

 the external velar bar on each side passes backward and slightly 

 inward, tapering to a point in the posterior margin of the velum 

 a short distance behind and below the posterior end of the 

 corresponding superior lateral velar bar. The internal lateral 

 velar bars (Figs. 6, 7, F') are smaller than the externals. 

 Beginning at their attachment to the middle point of the 

 internal margin of the external velar bars, they pass backward 

 and inward until they are directly over the lateral margins of 

 the basal plate. Here they are connected by a transverse velar 

 bar {ab). The internal lateral velar bars then pass directly 

 backward parallel to each other. A second velar transverse 

 bar {pb) connects them with the lateral velar bars and the 

 anterior connecting velar bar, and encloses a fenestra almost 

 square. The internal lateral velar bars then continue back- 

 ward and slightly outward, each tapering to a point in the 

 posterior margin of the velum near the posterior end of the 

 corresponding external lateral velar bar. The posterior trans- 

 verse velar bar {pb) has a process extending directly backward 

 in the median line which ends in the margin of the velum. 

 The posterior end of this process is usually bifid. The anterior 

 transverse velar bar {ab) has three connecting processes. The 

 median process (Fig. 7, m) passes at first backward, then turns 

 directly upward and fuses with the anterior median process 

 of the suprapharyngeal cartilage. The anterior connecting 

 processes (a) arise one on each side of the median line and 

 curve forward, upward, and backward, to unite with the anterior 

 surfaces of the lateral horns of the suprapharyngeal plate 

 (Figs. 5, 7, a). These connecting processes form an elastic 

 apparatus by means of which the velum, under ordinary condi- 

 tions, is suspended above the floor of the pharynx. 



In the posterior part of the fascia of the club-shaped muscle 

 body are found two whitish elongated bars lying in the median 

 line, one above the other. These are the superior and inferior 



