MUNIZ—McGEE] OPERATION REPEATED IN SAME REGION 37 
and there are a few small spicules of new bone projecting into the 
aperture, notably a sharp point at the anterior extremity (shown clearly 
in plate xx1). So far as can be judged, the modus operandi was sim- 
ilar to that represented in cranium 9, with subsequent grinding or rasp- 
ing of the outer table to remove the raw edges; yet it is quite possible 
that the aperture was made wholly by scraping. 
No trace of lesion antecedent to the operation remains. It is clear 
that the sufferer lived for some time, certainly months and probably 
years, after the treatment. The usual vertical cut in the bone appears 
above the right temple. 
CRANIUM 12 
(Plates XXTUT, XXTV) 
Although nearly white, as if bleached, this cranium was taken from 
a fairly well mummified body, and fragments of ligaments and other 
tissues remain, while the bone is fatty. The specimen is small, rather 
light and thin, somewhat delicate in outline, with less conspicuously 
strong attachments than most of the collection; it is one of two crania 
suspected to be feminine. The teeth are nearly mature and the sutures 
somewhat obscured; there are over half a dozen little interparietals. 
The rather complex operations were located about the center of the 
_ superior side of the occipital. The principal aperture is rudely cireu- 
lar, interrupted by an irregular salient, and averages perhaps 26 mm. 
in diameter; the next in size is an irregular oblong about 8 by 12 mm., 
and the smallest is an approximate circle some 6 mm. in diameter. 
The marks of instrumentation are rather indefinite, and are practically 
absent about most of the margin of the largest aperture. So far as 
can be judged, the initial operation was begun by a curvilinear incision 
extending from near the center of the occiput upward and forward 
nearly to the lambdoid suture, where it was curved sharply and after- 
ward connected with another curvilinear incision defining the medio- 
superior side of the largest opening. It would seem probable that the 
principal button was then removed by the aid of an elevator, leaving a 
ragged margin on the median side, and that the edges of the outer table 
were then scraped smooth and neatly beveled. Afterward considerable 
physiologic action apparently supervened, whereby the tool marks were 
obliterated, while the diploe was solidified and the cut surface brought 
into the condition of normal bony surface, the period of reparation being 
probably months, possibly years. Then ensued the later operation, 
beginning with a transverse rectilinear incision some 40 mm. long 
extending from near the center of the occiput to the inferior margin of 
the antecedent aperture and passing into extensive scraping of the 
bone, thence upward nearly to the suture and rightward to the large 
opening. Further than this, the modus operandi seems still more 
‘doubtful, though minute scratches, as well as the general conformation, 
would indicate that the oblong aperture was produced by scraping. 
