236 MR. R. OWEN ON THE ANATOMY 
persistent on both sides, external to the horns, and on the left side extends from beneath 
the middle of the base of the horn to the posterior extremity of the interfrontal suture. 
There 1s a well-marked sexual difference in the horns of the Cape Giraffe. In the 
male they are nearly double the size of those of the female, and their expanded bases 
meet in the middle line of the skull, so that they would entirely conceal the coro- 
nal suture, even if it were not early obliterated in this sex. In the female, the bases of 
the horns are at least two inches apart, and in one instance the remains of the coronal 
suture on the left side are visible in the adult. The Nubian Giraffe exhibits the same 
sexual difference in regard to the proportional development of the horns. 
The parietal bone is single, and is anchylosed with the occipital and interparietal 
bones. The persistence of the sutures in the temporal fossa shows that the sphenoid 
ala articulates with the angle of both the parietal and frontal. The zygomatic process 
of the temporal bone unites with the malar by a rectangular suture. 
In all the crania of the Giraffe that I have examined there is a vacant space left in 
the side of the face, between the lachrymal, frontal, nasal, and superior maxillary bone : 
but this in some individuals is less conspicuous from the outward protrusion of the 
superior spongy bone. The figures of the cranium of the Giraffe by Pander and D’Alton 
show the same structure. In those of the Nubian Giraffe by Riippel, the vacant space 
is relatively smaller than in skulls of the Cape Giraffe. 
With respect to the extent of the malar bone upon the face, I find it proportionally 
less in the Giraffe than in the Sheep. The remarkable development of the lachrymal 
bone within the orbit, described in detail by Cuvier, seems to have relation to the pecu- 
liarly large size of the eye. 
The nasal bone is bifurcate at its anterior extremity, as in the Deer, not simply 
pointed, as in most of the Antelopes. 
The cervical vertebre of the Giraffe are not only remarkable for their great length, 
but also, as Prof. De Blainville has recently shown, for the ball and socket form of the 
articulations of their bodies ; the convexity being on the anterior extremity and the 
concavity posterior: in this respect they resemble the vertebre of the Camel, but in 
both these species the vertebre are united by the concentric layers of intervertebral 
ligament, and not by synovial capsules as in most of the Reptilia. 
The superior ring of the atlas is perforated by the vertebral artery, near its anterior 
extremity. 
The vertebra dentata is characterized by the absence of transverse processes ; but a 
thick ridge on each side of the posterior part of the body represents the superior trans- 
verse process. The perforation for the vertebral artery is near the anterior extremity 
of the superior arch, and leads obliquely into the spinal canal. There are no anterior 
oblique processes, the avis being joined to the atlas by the anterior extremity of its body 
and by the processus dentatus, which latter are blended together into one common articu- 
lation, and inclosed in one capsular ligament. The spinous process of the avis is deve- 
