THE SKULL. 77 



external surface of the vertical plate of the palate. This 

 fossa lodges Meckel's ganglion, and is traversed by the 

 superior maxillary division of the fifth nerve. Five 

 important foramina open into it, three posteriorly, the 

 foramen rotundum, the Vidian, and the pterygo-palatine ; 

 on the inner wall is the spheno-palatine, and below the 

 posterior palatine. In addition, small nutrient foramina 

 open into this fossa. The spheno-maxillary fossa com- 

 municates externally with the zygomatic fossa; anteriorly, 

 with the orbit; internally, with the nasal, and, poste- 

 riorly, with the cranial cavity. Three fissures centre in 

 the spheno-maxillary fossa, the sphenoidal, the spheno- 

 maxillary, and the pterygo-maxillary. The sphenoidal 

 passes upward, outward, and forward ; the spheno-max- 

 illary downward, forward, and outward ; and the pterygo- 

 maxillary vertically downward. 



The fissures are : The sphenoidal, triangular in shape, 

 is between the greater and lesser wings of the sphenoid 

 at the posterior part of the orbit, and has been described 

 as the "foramen lacerum anterius." The spheno-maxil- 

 lary fissure is bounded anteriorly and below by the 

 posterior edge of the orbital surface of the superior 

 maxillary and the malar ; above, by the lower margin of 

 the orbital surface of the great wing of the sphenoid. 

 It communicates with the spheno-maxillary and zygo- 

 matic fossae. The pterygo-maxillary fissure is bounded 

 anteriorly by the posterior border of the superior maxil- 

 lary ; posteriorly, by the anterior border of the pterygoid 

 process. This fissure is a continuation downward of the 

 spheno-maxillary fossa. 



A study of the skull entire is of much importance in 

 the general science of anthropology, and a few facts 

 bearing upon craniology may here be not uninteresting. 



