27 



posterior median notch of tlie palate ; the extent of the alveolar series is five 

 inches eight lines, and the first socket is about half an inch from the outer and 

 anterior angle of the base of the skull. The sockets are small and simple, but 

 deep, corresponding with the teeth ; the plane of their outlets slopes from with- 

 out downwards and inwards : in the present skull the teeth are worn in a corre- 

 sponding direction, but so that whilst they project a little beyond the thin external 

 walls of their sockets, they do not attain the level of the rough, convex, internal 

 alveolar boundaries, which we may suppose, therefore, to have been defended by 

 a callous gum, aiding perhaps, by the attrition of the tongue against the palate, 

 in the triturating process. This description appUes to the four posterior sockets, 

 which are separated by very narrow intervals. The first or anterior socket is 

 half an inch in advance of the second, and its external wall forms a distinct 

 convex prominence near the anterior part of the muzzle ; it is also more curved 

 than the rest ; all which distinctions indicate the first tooth to be the represent- 

 ative of a canine. The gradual convergence of the two rows of sockets as they 

 extend backwards, and the shape and relative size of their outlets, are shown in 

 Plate IV. 



The posterior contracted part of the palate presents several small foramina. 

 It is moderately smooth and slightly concave on each side the median line, 

 which concavities contract to longitudinal grooves opposite the penultimate and 

 antepenultimate grinders, the middle line of the palate being developed into a 

 ridge between these grooves ; the broad and slightly convex part of the palate 

 is sculptured by numerous irregular vascular perforations and canals ; the 

 median suture, and those defining the Umits of the palatine and maxillary bones, 

 are obliterated. The anterior palatine foramen is represented by an angular 

 notch : one of the principal vascular foramina and grooves is situated on each 

 side of this notch. It is probable that some rudiment of an intermaxillary bone 

 may have converted this notch into a foramen. 



Forms and Connections of the Cranial Bones. — The obliteration of most of the 

 sutures in the present skull, which is probably that of an aged animal, leaves 

 little to be said of the connections of the cranial bones, or of the proportions in 

 which they respectively entered into the formation of the different cavities. 



The occipital bone is obviously large, with the condyloid or ex-occipital ele- 

 ments widely separated by a broad and flat basilar plate. The supra-occipital 



d2 



