RUMINANTIA. 



Tig. 329. 



511 



Front view of the skull of the Deer. (From Lond. Coll. Surg. Museum.) 



this portion of the bone is compressed, and, 



in consequence of a central space left unossi- 



fied (Jig. 330.), we are enabled to look into 



Fig. 330. 



Side view of the skull of Moschus. (From a specimen 

 in Lond. Coll. Surg. Museum.) 



the orbit of the opposite side ; a peculiarity 

 not confined to the animals under con- 

 sideration, being more marked in certain of 

 the Rodentia and in birds. In Bovidae the 

 temporal wing of the sphenoid, which is of 

 comparatively large size and much curved 

 backward, does not reach the parietal bone as 

 in the other ruminants ; and it is further 

 distinguished by a sharp pointed ridge de- 

 veloped from its anterior margin, which in 



the preceding genera is only feebly indicated, 

 though tolerably prominent in the Giraffe. 

 The anterior wing extends horizontally for- 

 ward and is convex on its orbitar surface 

 (d,fig. 327.). Part of the body of the pos- 

 terior sphenoid forms, in conjunction with 

 the anterior third of the basi-occipital, two 

 projecting elevations, which are separated 

 from each other by a deep groove : these also 

 appear in the Goats, where they are less 

 marked. In both families the spheno-palatine 

 and the spheno-orbitar foramina are capacious ; 

 but in GEgosceridae the latter openings are 

 somewhat compressed. The os ethmoides has 

 the same relations as usual, its cells being 

 greatly developed in the Giraffe. 



The temporal bone (10), as in other mam- 

 malia, consists of three segments. In Came- 

 lidae the zygomatic arches form, in conjunction 

 with the sunken temples and strongly pointed 

 occipito-parietal crests, a striking feature, 

 which imparts to the cranium of this family a 

 carnivorous type of structure. This mor- 

 phological peculiarity is chiefly noticeable in 

 the Camels properly so called ; and in them 

 the glenoid cavity is very deep, being sup- 

 ported in front and behind by prominent 

 apophyses, the posterior of which is united at 



