CRANIA FROM THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. 427 



from the zygoma to the maxilla exactly in the position of the suture in the true 

 bi-partite malar. It varies exceedingly in length owing to the degree which the 

 malar process of the maxilla and the zygomatic process of the temporal bones 

 approach each other. 



The least height of the malar bone lies distinctly back of the malo-maxillary 

 suture. A tendency exists in the bone to be low at this place (as compared with 

 the greatest height) in skulls which retain a lower jaw with broad ramus, a short 

 body and whose alveolar and basal borders are nearly parallel. 



(10). The lower jaw. There is no bone in the body whose shape is so vari- 

 able in different periods of life, and which is so dependent upon the form, position 

 and number of the teeth, as is the lower jaw. It is impossible to harmonize these 

 variations with the important work assigned the bone. But the very intricacy of 

 the subject makes it of interest, and will, I trust, warrant the somewhat extended 

 comment I shall make. 



The description of the bone will include in addition to the characters accepted 

 as useful the following : (a) The molar ridge and alveolar hyperostoses on the 

 lingual aspect of the ramus, {b) The parallelism between the alveolar and basal 

 borders of the ramus, (c) The relation of the third molar to the base of the coro- 

 noid process, (d) The deflection of the angle, of the jaw, whether inward or outward. 

 (e) The shape of the condyloid process. {/) The position of the mental foramen 

 with reference to the teeth. 



(a). The mylo-hyoid ridge is described by Quain as " beginning below the 

 mental spines and passing backward and upward to the ramus." I note that a 

 prominent ridge begins opposite the first molar and ends a little back of the third 

 molar, and that the space between the mental spines and the first molar is marked 

 by a low smooth rounded eminence entirely distinct from the ridge. The two 

 characters are not connected in any important way and certainly are not created 

 by the mylo-hyoid muscle. In this essay the first-named ridge will be called the 

 molar ridge. — The free border of the alveolar process of the molars is often 

 thickened. This border is continuous with a similar appearance opposite the pre- 

 molars, but at this place it is not at the alveolar border but at a point below. It 

 shall here receive the name of a-lveolar hyperostosis. I am in doubt of its value as 

 an osteological character, since it may be pathological, or (if physiological) the 

 result of eating coarse foods. In an essay on the Clinical Study of the Skull, 1 I 

 made the following statement: In the specimen of the lower jaw of an Esquimaux 

 in the Academy of Natural Sciences an elongated rounded outgrowth of bone was 

 noted lying on the lingual aspect of the ramus from the first molar to the canine 

 tooth. In the skull of a young adult the outgrowth was mammilated, each nodule 

 answering to the socket of a tooth. In the remaining bones, three in number, it was 

 uniformly convex, and extended to a line which was nearly equal to that of the 

 bottom of the sockets. The bone was firm in consistence and did not appear to be 

 the result of inflammation. Out of thirty-four Esquimaux crania in the Army 



1 Toner Lecture, Smithsonian Institution, 1889, 13. 



