ORGANS OF SENSE 73 



expansion of the optic nerve lining the posterior part of the ball. 

 A portion of the fibro-vascular and highly pigmented layer, the 

 choroid, which is interposed between the retina and the outer 

 sclerotic coat, is in many mammals modified into a brilliantly- 

 coloured light -reflecting surface, the tapetum lucidum. There is 

 never a pecten or marsupium like that of the Sauropsida, nor is 

 the sclerotic ever supported by a ring of flattened ossicles, as is so 

 frequently the case in the lower vertebrated classes. The eyeball 

 is moved in various directions by a series of muscles the four 

 straight, two oblique, and, except in the higher Primates, a pos- 

 terior retractor muscle called choanoid. The superior oblique muscle 

 passes through a tendinous pulley fastened to the roof of the orbit, 

 which is a feature not found beyond the limits of the mammalian 

 class. The eye is protected by the lids, generally distinctly separated 

 into an upper and a lower movable flap, which, when closed, meet 

 over the front of the eye in a more or less nearly horizontal line ; 

 but sometimes, as in the Sirenia, the lids are not distinct, and the 

 aperture is circular, closing to a point. In almost all mammals 

 below the Primates, except the Cetacea, a " nictitating membrane " 

 or third eyelid is placed at the inner corner of the eyeball, and 

 works horizontally across the front of the ball within the true lids. 

 Its action is instantaneous, being apparently for the purpose of 

 cleaning the front of the transparent cornea ; a function unneces- 

 sary in animals whose eyes are habitually bathed in water, and which 

 in Man and his nearest allies is performed by winking the true 

 eyelids. Except in Cetacea the surface of the eye is kept moist by 

 the secretion of the lachrymal gland, placed under the upper lid at 

 its outer side, and the lids are lubricated by the Harderian and 

 Meibomian glands, the former being situated at the inner side of 

 the orbit, and especially related to the nictitating membrane, the 

 latter in the lining membrane of the lids. 



Hearing. The organ of hearing is inclosed in a bony capsule 

 (periotic) situated in the side of the head, intercalated between the 

 posterior (occipital) and the penultimate (parietal) segment of the 

 skull. It has, in common with other vertebrates, three semicircular 

 canals and a vestibule, but the cochlea is more fully developed than 

 in the Sauropsida, and, except in the Monotremes, spirally con- 

 voluted. The tympanic cavity is often dilated below, forming a 

 smooth rounded prominence on the base of the skull, the auditory 

 bulla (Fig. 8). The three principal ossicles, the " malleus," " incus," 

 and " stapes," are always present, but variable in characters. In 

 the Sirenia, Cetacea, and Seals they are massive in form, being in 

 the first-named order of larger size than in any other mammals. In 

 the Cetacea the malleus is ankylosed to the tympanic ; but in other 

 mammals it is connected only with the membrana tympani. The 

 stapes in the lower orders Edentates, Marsupials, and Monotremes 





