2 MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 9. 



terior border of the cavity so that the anterior root of the zygoma 

 is indistinct. It is submitted that such a shallow glenoid fossa 

 is an approach to a state that is usual in anthropoid apes ; (among 

 Australian crania Nos. 2138, 2139, 2140, exhibit the same feature 

 in a less marked degree)." I myself have noted this glenoid 

 flattening, exemplified in a most remarkable manner, in some 

 New Caledonian crania belonging to the Williamson collection 

 in the Museum of the Royal Army Medical college, London; 

 indeed, it was during an examination of these crania that my 

 attention was first called to this peculiarity. I have also 

 noted this condition in the skulls of other races living under 

 primitive conditions, but in most of them it would seem to be 

 probably a local and no doubt in some cases an individual 

 characteristic; one can, for example, find many Australian 

 crania with deep, well marked, glenoid fossae and the same 

 remark applies to other races. When, however, one examines 

 a series of Eskimo skulls, one is at once struck by the almost 

 uniformly shallow appearance of these fossae; it seems, indeed, 

 to be the exception to find in an Eskimo skull a very concave 

 glenoid fossa, whilst many of them present an extreme appear- 

 ance of glenoid flattening. 



When an examination is made of the glenoid fossa in any 

 skull which exhibits this shallow form, it becomes evident that 

 this appearance is due most largely to the rolling and flattening 

 out in the forward and outward direction of the eminentia 

 articularis, as well as perhaps to a relatively lesser depth of fossa. 

 Hence, in extreme cases, such as in figure 3, Plate II, the emin- 

 entia articularis merges into the fossa in a continuous straight 

 line, while the fossa itself is wide and shallow. In intermediate 

 forms, such as figure 6, Plate II, the eminentia, although con- 

 siderably flattened, yet is still slightly curved, while the 'anterior 

 concave portion' of the fossa can now be recognized. The 

 glenoid fossa in the skulls of modern civilized man, presents a 

 very different appearance to this: the eminentia is high and 

 prominent, while the concave portion is deep and very clearly 

 defined. See diagram, Plate I, and figures 1 and 2, Plate II. 



Now C. S. Tomes, in his "Dental Anatomy," points out 

 the influence of different methods of mastication upon the form 



