ANUEOSOEEX. 151 



Skull. — The skull is not so elongated as in Fachyura, but it is more so than in 

 Soriculus nigrescens, and it is remarkable in being nearly half as long as the ver- 

 tebral column measured from the atlas to the end of the sacral vertebrae. The 

 facial is relatively shorter to the cranial portion of the skull than in the former, 

 and these two regions bear about the same projoortion to each other as in the skuU 

 of the latter. The molar portions of the maxillse have not the same lateral 

 expansion that they have in Pachyura, and in this respect the skull is also affili- 

 ated to So7^iculus. The greatest breadth of the cerebral portion, which is more 

 arched than in Fachyura and SorictiMs, is attained between the mastoid pro- 

 cesses, which are well developed and project outwards and forwards in a marked 

 degree. The frontal is fuller than in any shrew I have examined, and the occipital 

 region is not directed so much forwards as in JPachyura and Soriculus. There 

 is a rather strong sagittal ridge with a smaU foramen on each side of its 

 anterior termination. The lambdoidal ridge is not very strongly developed. There 

 is an obsctire, but at the same time easily recognisable, process in the region corre- 

 sponding to the post-orbital process. It is placed at the posterior termination of a 

 short concavity in the outline of the orbito-temporal fossa, and defines a space corre- 

 sponding to the capacity of the orbit. 



When viewed in profile, the parietal regipn is seen to be arched more than in the 

 generality of Soricine skulls, and that the anterior extremity of the sagittal ridge 

 terminates in a depression over the inter- orbital, temporal contraction, from which 

 point the facial portion is arched forwards in a more marked degree than in Pachy- 

 ura or Crocidura, and, unlike these skiills, the nasals are not flattened above. In 

 this view of the skull the occipital region is nearly vertical. The palate is not so 

 long, deep, or broad as in Pachyura, and increases in width from before backwards, 

 being prolonged behind the last molar and terminating in a sharp ridge with a 

 minute, acute, external process. There is only one anterior palatine foramen, without 

 any trace of a septum, and it is nearly as large as the infra- orbital foramen. 

 The mesopterygoid fossa is shorter and broader than in Pachyura or Sorex, and is 

 somewhat lyre-shaped, broader in front than behind. At the junction of the basi- 

 occipital and basi-sphenoid, there is a central ridge with a sHglit depression on 

 either side of it, and it sends back a ridge to the external, anterior angle of the 

 occipital condyles. 



The post- glenoid process is closely adherent to the oiitside of the posterior 

 extremity of the pterygoids which terminate in a hamular-like process, projecting 

 outwards and backwards, and it is widely separated from the glenoid surface for the 

 articulation of the upper section of the condyle. The post-glenoid process has the 

 foramen ovale completely hidden on its inner side by the arch formed by its 

 junction with the pterygoid, so that this foramen can only be seen in front. 

 This process, owing to the greater depth of the skull, is also at a lower level than 

 in other Indian shrews, its lower margin being on a level with the lower third of 

 the front incisor, while in P. indica the lower margin of the process is on a higher 

 level than the posterior alveolar margin of the last molar but one. The anterior 



