706 dr. e. lonxbebg on THE [June 19, 



share in the formation of the orbital tube, makes this pit look 

 deeper than it really is. If the bone were straight this pit would 

 be rather shallow. The shape of the lachrymal bone is different 

 from that of the Sheep. It is broader and decidedly widened in 

 front, where its breadth is about a ninth of the cranial length ; 

 wbereas the lachrymal bones of the Sheep usually are narrowed in 

 front or at most linear. 



The suture between the lachrymal and the nasal bones is quite 

 variable in length in the different specimens of Musk-ox. In my 

 material this variation is from 25 to 5 mm. Richardson (I. c.) has 

 treated of this as well as of the shape of the nasals. He has also 

 observed that the nasals of the Musk-ox differ from those of the 

 Sheep as well as from those of the Oxen. But it is evident that no 

 characteristics of systematic value can be obtained from such vari- 

 able bones as these. It may, however, be mentioned that a flat 

 and broad nasal region, about \ of the basal length of the skull, is 

 a feature common not only to Ovibos and the Caprina but also to a 

 great number of Antelopes, when compared with the Bovina, in 

 which the nasal region is more or less compressed to a ridge and 

 thus narrowed to about i- of the cranial length. The great 

 thickness of the nasals is in concordance with other bones of the 

 Musk-ox skull, as may be seen from tig. o (p. 697). 



The intermaxillaries do not reach the nasals. Their proximal 

 portion is curved outwards a little, but the distal parts are rather 

 strongly convergent, and through this the distal portion of the 

 upper jaw becomes comparatively more narrow even than in the 

 Sheep. In consequence of this, and because the intermaxillaries 

 are thickened in the middle, the anterior part of the skull gets a 

 characteristic aspect not seen in other Cavicornia. In Sheep as 

 well as in Oxen the posterior extension of the intermaxillaries is 

 subjected to variation. It is, however, perhaps worth mentioning 

 for compai'ison, that in none of the genera Budorcas, Nemorhcedus, 

 Haploceros, and Bupicapra do the intermaxillaries reach the nasals. 



It might be that the shortness of the intermaxillaries stands in 

 relation to the Musk-ox's way of browsing with its thick lip instead 

 of biting. The Reindeer, which has thick lips, has a short inter- 

 maxillary not reaching the nasal ; but Cervus damn, for instance, 

 with thin lips has a long suture between the intermaxillary and 

 the nasal. There seems accordingly to be a certain correspondence 

 or parallelism between the Reindeer and the Musk-ox, which is 

 also visible in the shape of the thick and anteriorly pointed inter- 

 maxillaries. 



The foramina ineisiva of the Musk-ox are very large and 

 posteriorly narrowed. Ovibos resembles in this respect the Sheep, 

 but also Nemorhcedus. These foramina do not offer any important 

 characteristics. 



The palatal surface is concave and rather strongly constricted 

 behind the foramina ineisiva (fig. 7, p. 707), much more than in Bos 

 taurus, but much less than in B. bubalis. The palatines are larger 

 comparatively than in the Sheep. The suture between palatines 



