THE SKULL. 317 



on its under surface the articular facet for 

 the mandible : beyond the facet it bends 

 downwards, to articulate by an expanded 

 end with the jugal bone, and so complete the 

 zygomatic arch. 



ii. The mandible, or lower jaw, consists of a pair 

 of somewhat triangular plates of bone, firmly 

 united in front, and articulating by their 

 posterior and upper angles with the zygomatic 

 processes of the squamosals. 



The anterior portion of each half or ramus 

 is stout : it lodges an incisor tooth in front, 

 and further back, on its upper margin, the 

 grinding teeth. The hinder part of the ramus 

 is much thinner : its postero-inferior border, 

 or angle, is rounded, and inflected along its 

 margin ; its posterior border, above the angle, 

 is deeply notched ; its upper border is 

 thickened to form the longitudinally elongated 

 condyle, which articulates with the squamosal 

 in such a way as to allow free movement of 

 the jaw backwards and forwards, but very 

 restricted movement from side to side : its 

 anterior border is deeply grooved, the outer 

 lip or coronoid process being inflected. 



On the inner surface of each ramus, just 

 behind the grinding teeth, is the inferior 

 dental foramen, through which the mandi- 

 bular nerve enters to supply the teeth. 



4. The hyoid bone lies in the floor of the hinder part of 

 the mouth, between the rami of the mandible. 



It consists of a median body, and two pairs of 

 backwardly projecting cornua, of which the posterior 

 are the larger. 



The anterior cornua are the ventral ends of the 

 hyoidean arches, the dorsal end of each of which has 

 aborted. The middle piece has separated off as a 



