THE SUTURES. 151 



called the ossa Wormiana or Triquetra. They vary very much 

 in their magnitude, being in different subjects from a line to one 

 inch, or an inch and a half in diameter. I have seen them of 

 the latter size, and even larger, occupying entirely the place of 

 the superior angle of the os occipitis. Most commonly, but not 

 always, when one of these bones exists on one side of the body, 

 a corresponding one exists on the other. A congeries of these 

 bones, united successively, is sometimes found in the lambdoidal 

 suture; in such cases they are, for the most part, small. Com- 

 monly these bones consist, like the other bones of the cranium, 

 of two tables and an intermediate diploe, and form an integral 

 portion of the thickness of the cranium; sometimes, however, 

 they compose only the external table. M. Bertin says, that 

 he has seen them, also, composing only the internal table of the 

 cranium. 



All the sutures mentioned besides the lambdoid, may exhibit, 

 at any of their points, the ossa Triquetra or Wormiana. I have 

 seen them in the coronal, the sagittal, and the squamous, but in 

 such cases they are small. The lambdoid unquestionably has 

 them most frequently. M. Bertin has seen a large square bone 

 at the fore part of the sagittal suture, occupying the place, and 

 presenting the form, of what was once the anterior fontanel: he 

 has also seen triquetral bones in the articulations of the bones of 

 the face.* 



The sutures described belong exclusively to the cranium, but 

 there are others common to it and to the face~. The sphenoidal 

 suture surrounds the bone from which its name comes; the eth- 

 moidal suture surrounds the ethmoidal bone; the zygomatic su- 

 ture unites the temporal and malar bones; the transverse suture 

 runs across the root of the nose, and also unites the malar bones 

 to the os frontis. The other articular surfaces of the face de- 

 rive their names from the bones they unite, and do not merit a 

 particular attention at this time, as enough has been said in the 

 description of the bones themselves. 



The base of the cranium is remarkably different, in the man- 

 ner of its articulations, from the upper part. The surface, in 

 the first place, is very rugged, and much diversified by its con- 



* Berlin, loc. cit. 



