ANTHROPOMETRY 99 



third of the sagittal suture, or in the distal portions (below the tem- 

 poral crests) of the coronal there are some racial as well as individual 

 differences in this respect. A complete obliteration of the coronal, 

 sagittal, and lambdoid sutures under ordinary conditions is reached 

 only in advanced age, after seventy, and in fact is seldom fully accom- 

 plished even then. The temporal articulations, with the exception 

 of that with the occipital, are the last to ossify. A complete synostosis 

 of all the articulations of the bones of the vault at any age would 

 justify a suspicion of some abnormality. With ample experience, 

 and taking the condition of the sutures and teeth together, we may 

 correctly estimate the age of the adult subject to within, perhaps, ten 

 years. 1 



As signs of advanced senility, may be named a diminution in weight 

 of the skull and bones, with more or less rarefaction of the bone struc- 

 ture (particularly in the long bones of the lower limbs and the spine) ; 

 extensive loss of teeth and marked absorption of the alveolar processes; 

 and disseminated marginal exostoses of the lumbar and other verte- 

 brae. This latter condition, although usually looked upon as patho- 

 logical, is so common in senile skeletons of all races that it may well be 

 regarded as a part of the process of skeletal senile involution, becom- 

 ing only secondarily, or through its irregularities and complications, 

 pathological. 



In addition to the above the vault of the skull may in advanced age 

 occasionally show a more or less marked absorption of the bony tissue 

 (diploe) of the parietals above the temporal ridges, with a consequent 

 bilateral, antero-posterior depression. The lower jaw may in in- 

 stances be reduced to a mere frail shell, with greatly widened angles; 

 while the upper alveolar process may be completely absorbed and the 

 loss involve even a part of the nasal floor. But these extreme mani- 



1 See in this connection, Dwight (Thos.), "The closure of the cranial sutures as a 

 sign of age," Bost. Med. and Surg. J., 1890, 389. 



Frederic (J.), "Untersuchungen ii. d. normale Obliteration der Schadelnahte," 

 Z.f. Morph. and Anthrop., 1906, IX, 273; 1909, XII, 371. 



Parsons (F. G.) and C. R. Box, "The relation of the cranial sutures to age," 

 J. Anthrop. Inst., 1905, XXXV, 30. 



Pommerol, (J.), "Recherches sur la synostose des os du crane," Bull. Soc. Anthrop. 

 Paris, 1869, S. 2, IV, ^502; and Th4se, Paris. 



Ribbe (F. C.), "Etude sur Pordre d'oblite'ration des sutures du crane dans lea 

 races humaines," Thbse, Paris, and Rev. d' Anthrop., 1885, S. 2, VIII, 348. 



Welcker (H.), "Altersbestimmung der Schadel," Arch. f. Anthrop., 1866, I, 113. 



Zanolli (V.), "Studio sulla obliterazione delle suture craniche," Atti Soc. rom. 

 Antrop., 1908, XIV, 13. 



