THE HEAD. 



57 



face. It is particularly distinguished by : — 1, Its great thickness. 2, The osseous 

 conical cores -which support the horns. These eminences, more or less long and curved, 

 very rugged, perforated by foramina, and grooved by small vascular channels, are 

 » detached outwards from each side of the bone, near the summit of the head. The 

 processes ■which form the orbital arches rest by their summits on the zygomatic bone. 

 The supra-orbital foramen is transformed into a veritable and frequently multiple canal; 

 its anterior orifice opens into a vasculo-nervous groove, which ascends towards the base 

 of the horns, and descends to near the lower border of the bone. Between this groove 

 and the base of the orbital arch is the frontal boss. The orbital foramen entirely belongs 

 to this bone. The inferinr border is deeply notched in its middle to receive the nasal 

 bones , the frontal sinuses are prolonged into the horn-cores, the parietal bone, and even 

 into the occipital bone. 



In the Sheep and Goat, the frontal bone is relatively less extensive and strong than in 

 the Ox ; it does not ascend to the summit of the head, and the frontal sinuses are not 

 prolonged beyond its superior border. 



4. Mfhmoid hone. — In ruminants, 



the great ethmoidal cell is enor- Fig- 28. 



mously developed, and looks like a 

 third turbinated bone prolonged be- 

 tween the usual two; it has been 

 named the olfactory antrum. 



The ethmoid bone is closely im- 

 prisoned between the adjacent bones, 

 in consequence of the slight develop- 

 ment of the sinuses around it. This 

 character otherwise belongs to all 

 the domesticated animals, except soli- 

 peds. 



5. Sphenoid hone. — In the Ox, 

 the subspheuoidal or pterygoid pro- 

 cesses are large and thin. The sub- 

 spheuoidal canal is absent. The 

 sella turcica is deep, and the bony 

 projection separating it from the 

 basilar process is very high. The 

 three suprasphenoidal canals are 

 converted into a single, but wide 

 one. There are no notches in the 

 superior border for the passage of 

 the internal carotid and spheno- 

 spinous arteries. That for the in- 

 ferior maxillary nerve is converted 

 into a canal — the oval foramen. 



In the Sheep, the osseous promi- 

 nence that limits the pituitary fossa 

 posteriorly forms a lamina curv- 

 ing forwards and prolonged at its ex- 

 tremities into two points, which 

 constitute the posterior cUnoid pro- 

 cesses. 



6. Temporal hone.— In the Ox, ram's head; antekior face. 



Sheep, and Goat,th.e tuberous portion i^ Occipital bone ; 2, Parietal bone ; 3, Core of right 

 of the temporal bone is always con- frontal bone ; 4, The left core covered by its horn ; 

 solidated with the squamous portion, 5^ Superciliary foramen ; 5', Channel descending 

 and the suirmut of the zygomatic fi-om it ; 6, Lachrymal bone ; 7, Zygoma ; 8, Nasal 

 process only articulates with the bone; 9, Supermaxillary bone; 10, Premaxillary 

 malar bone. bone; 10', Its internal process; 11, Incisive open- 



In the Ox, the condyle of the mg. 

 zygomatic process is very wide and . , 



convex in every sense. The parieto-temporal canal is very large and entirely excavatea 

 in the temporal bone ; its superior or internal extremity opens above the petrous portion 

 in an excavation which represents the lateral cavity of the parietal protuberance m tJie 

 Horse ; at its inferior extremity it always shows several onfices. 



T'he mastoid process is very salient, and belongs to the squamous portion, ine 

 mastoid crest is confounded with the upper root of the zygomatic process; mferiorly, it 



