ON THE HYOID BONE OF THE ELEPHANT. 299 
47. ON THE HYOID BONE OF THE ELEPHANT.* 
Tae hyoid apparatus of the Indian Elephant (Hlephas indicus) Page 365. 
present peculiarities which a study of the same in the Ungulata would 
tend to complicate rather than to simplify. The basihyal together 
with the thyrohyals form an arch (of which, by the way, I have not 
seen the components anchylosed even in adult specimens)—which 
does not present the least difficulty, a small pair of cartilaginous lesser 
cornua being present in the position of the lesser cornua of anthro- 
potomy. It is the stylohyals which, as far as I can find, have not yet 
been correctly described. Of them Professor Owen remarksf, “‘ From 
the middle of the stylohyal a slender pointed process is sent off at an Page 366. 
acute angle.” And in Professor Flower’s “ Osteology ” it is said that 
“the stylohyals are remarkable for having a long pointed process 
projecting downwards from near the middle of their posterior 
border.” Professor Morrison Watson{ enters fully into the de- 
scription of the hyoid muscles, without mentioning, though evidently 
correctly understanding, the disposition of the bones with which they 
- are associated. 
From the above remarks it is evident that the thick short portion 
of each stylohyal is assumed to be the body of that bone, the pointed 
process being considered to be an accessory part of it. Such, how- 
ever, is not the case—the slender pointed process in reality corre- 
sponding to the long body of the stylohyal in the Perrisso- and 
Artiodactyla, whilst the short thick process is the posterior descending 
process. That such is the case I have been able to prove recently in 
two specimens. 
In the Indian Elephant the stylohyal (s h) is a thin bone composed, Page 367. 
in the adult male, of a flat portion, 4 inches long, less than } inch 
thick, and very nearly 2? inch broad, with parallel sides, obtusely 
truncated at both ends, which are capped with cartilage. In the 
standing animal the position of this portion of the bone is nearly ver- 
tical. Above, it is closely united to the stylo-temporal region of the 
skull, whilst the lower end gives origin to the digastric muscle. From 
the middle of the anterior border continues onwards the body of the 
bone, at an acute angle with the lower portion of the above-described 
* “ Proceedings of the Zoological Society,” 1875, pp. 365-7. Read, May 4, 
1875. 
+ “ Anatomy of Vertebrates,” vol. ii. p 441. 
- t “ Journal of Anatomy and Physiology,’ November 1874, p. 131. 
