150 CHARACTERS OF THE HUMAN HEAD. 



the Incisors, observable In the foetus and child, and some- 

 times tolerably distinct In the adult. But there is this very 

 obvious and important distinction, that no vestige of suture 

 can ever be traced in the human subject between the al- 

 veoli, much less on the upper and anterior surface of the 

 jaw 5 so that the similarity to the structure of the quadruped 

 Is very remote. 



That all mammalia, besides the human subject, possess 

 this bone Is not so decidedly ascertained, as that man has it 

 not. Blumenbach* found no trace of it in the crania of 

 some simlse, although all the sutures were perfect ; yet it Is 

 seen In the head of the orang-utang (S. satyrus) figured by 

 him t, as well as In that of Camper J. On the contrary. In 

 the head of a very antliropo-morphous simia, in the Mu- 

 seum of the College of Surgeons, which seems to me to be 

 the S. satyrus, not a vestige of the suture separating this 

 bone is to be seen, although the individual must have been 

 very young, as the pieces of the occipital bone are not yet 

 consolidated. According to Tyson and Daubenton, it Is 

 not found In the chlmpanse. 



However the question may be decided, there can be no 

 doubt that the crania of all the quadrumana, as well as of 

 all other mammalia, are distinguished from the human skull 

 by the comparative size, great length, and projection of the 

 jaws. 



The articulation of the head with the spine determines 

 the mode of its support and extent of motion, the direction 

 of the mouth, jaws, eyes, and rest of the face ; It must, 

 therefore, vary according to the construction and relative 



deference till that time, had not been drawn from the examination of the 

 human subject. This attempt to rescue mankind from error and prejudice 

 drew upon him nothing but hatred and reproaches from his contemporariesj 

 who were driven to the most absurd arguments in defence of their idol 

 Galen. One of them suggested that an intermaxillary bone, though not 

 found now, might have belonged to the human structure in former times. 

 (Jac. Sylvii Dcpidsio Calumniarum vesani cujiisdain in Galenum.) 



* Dc Gen. Hum. Var. Nat. sect. 1. ^ 15. 



+ Abbildungcn, n. h. Gegcnsldmlc^ No. 52. 



+ (EuvreSy pi. 1. fig. 3. 



