428 CRANIA FROM THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. 



Medical Museum at Washington the hyperostosis is absent in one example only. 

 Since this observation was made I have noted the outgrowth in a number of lower 

 jaws of North American Indians ; for example, in skulls from the Ohio mounds, in 

 the skull of a Pawnee, of a Seminole and of a Peruvian. In none of these speci- 

 mens, however, is it so conspicuous as in the Esquimaux. It appeared in all of its 

 varieties to be a nodular hyperostosis of the alveolar process, and to represent, in an 

 exaggerated fashion, the minute bead-like masses which are often met with on the 

 inner side of the sockets of the lower molars. 1 



(b). The great contrast noted between the alveolar and basal lines of the 

 ramus is one of the most conspicuous appearances in the majority of lower jaws 

 examined : more particularly is this the case in the specimens obtained from dissect- 

 ing rooms. The incisor region is apt to be elevated, the molar region depressed, while 

 an emargination (pregonium) is noted on the basal margin in advance of the masse- 

 teric impression. In the skulls of uncivilized peoples the lower jaw has a marked 

 tendency (modified by age and states of the teeth), to retain the alveolar and basal 

 lines parallel one to the other. 



(c). The third molar is sometimes concealed by the base of the coronoid pro- 

 cess when seen in profile from without. This arrangement in a mechanical sense is 

 weak ; it modifies the alveolar process for the third molar to its disadvantage. The 

 typical plan is accepted to be that in which the tooth is seen clearly in advance 

 of the coronoid base. 



(d). The outward deflection of the angle is accepted as typical as opposed to 

 the inward deflection. The one last named is assumed by Falconer to be indicative 

 of low grade, since it is seen in marked degree in some of the most ancient bones, 

 namely the lower jaw of Moulin Quignon. Yet it is well marked in No. 1,783 of the 

 Moore series, where it is associated with no evidences of a primitive or degraded 

 character. It is a sign of a weak masseteric, as compared to an internal 

 pterygoid impression. — The question of outward or inward deflection should 

 be answered in connection with the muscles inserted into the 

 angle, — the masseter tending to emphasize the outward and the 

 internal pterygoid the inward inclination. I have found the 

 inward deflection marked in twenty specimens in the Morton 

 cabinet. 



Ig ioid 'proce^ 1 If ( e )- The variations in the form of the condyloid process have 



giG-Am^rfc™" received but little attention. I have ventured in consequence to 



showing marked 

 angulation. 



myself 2 



Out of four hundred examples in the Morton cabinet considered indepen- 

 dently of race, one hundred specimens exhibit the peculiarity shown in fig. 19, 

 namely, a marked angularity on the articular surface of the condyloid process 



1 I have since met with this appearance in a gentlemen who can trace his lineage through many 

 generations of Anglo-Americans. 



2 Dental Cosmos, 1867. 



insert in abridgement a special study of the subject made by 



