CRANIA FROM THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. 419 



that of a leaf of Ulmus montana, even in the detail of inequality of the basal 

 curves. G. Mingazzini x terms the first type of Topinard the forma anthropina ; 

 the second, the forma infantilis ; and the third, the forma prenasalis. A fourth 

 type is suggested also by him, namely the forma nasoalveolaris, which answers to 

 the characters noted in Gorilla, i.e., one in which the highest point of the floor of 

 the nasal chamber in advance of the anterior palatal foramen is also the one which 

 is most posterior, the alveolar line being absent. This author gives the name of 

 margo limitans to the line called by myself the alveolar line. I have often noted 

 that a margo limitans is composed of symmetrical ridges extending obliquely for- 

 ward from the incisor eminence. As to the so-called fossa prenasalis, I believe that 

 there is nothing to show that this fossa is ever in advance of the nasal chamber. 

 The depression invariably lies between the incisor eminence and the alveolar line. 

 The alveolar height is always low when the fossa is well defined. T. Dwight 2 

 accepts the term fossa prenasalis, but observes in the description of an example in 

 a Sandwich Island cranium that the " anterior lines are distinctly the continuations 

 of the lateral borders of the nasal opening." 



I venture to propose yet another classification of the varieties of the anterior 

 nasal aperture. It is based upon the extent to which the incisor crest is developed. 

 If the crest is conspicuously high the alveolar line is always trenchant ; if the 

 crest is low the alveolar line is never trenchant ; indeed, is often absent. A 

 third variety is met with (a retention of the infantile form) in which the crest is 

 confined to the posterior part of the floor of the nares, when it is fixed to the 

 vomer. The terms macrolophic, microlophic and analophic are available in naming 

 these groups. While the macrolophic is synonymous with heartshape form of Topi- 

 nard, the pteleiform of Welcker, or the forma anthropina of Mingazzini ; and the 

 analophic with the forma infantilis of the author last named, no word is at hand 

 for the group of the microlophic unless we use the awkward term No. 2 of Topinard. 

 No attempts at classification have yielded adjectives which are of a common origin 

 and which can be uniformly employed. Besides it is highly probable that the 

 variations in the shape of the floor of the nares are dependant upon the degree of 

 development of the incisor crest, and it is accepted that the crest itself is of generic 

 significance since none of the anthropoid apes possess a like structure. The varia- 

 tions in a generic character, it is justly assumed, may be of value in studying and 

 naming anatomical varieties. The classification is based on ontogeny, but it must 

 not be forgotten that while the analophic variety is also pantomorphic, it embraces 

 the phylogenetic variety for the reason already given, viz.: that no anthropoid form 

 possesses an incisor crest. This consideration does not in itself give us a strong 

 foothold on atavism since the man-like apes are themselves highly specialized, and, 

 in point of fact, the nasal vestibule in Gorilla alone resembles a variety met with 

 in the group of the analophi. 



The microlophic group is the most complex since it embraces those with a high 



1 Arch. f. Anthrop., 1891, 176. 

 2 *A m . Journ. Med. Sci., 1892. 



