Bones. 



THE CRANIUM. 13 



part is seen partially the occipital foramen, a considerable portion of the 

 articular surface of the condyles, then a strong inferior occipital ridge 

 terminating laterally in the external auditory foramen and the glenoid 

 cavity. The termination of this ridge occupies the situation of the mastoid 

 process ; but there is no real process existing here, only a thickened tip of 

 the bone and a very rough edge. 



Styloid Bones (Plate XX. Fig. 4). — The styloid processes are both styloid 

 perfect, measuring more than nine inches in length. They are attached 

 at the base of the petrous portion of the temporal bones. This process 

 is rarely seen in place ; but in the head of a young elephant we find it 

 connected with the temporal bone by a ligament. The cranial extremity 

 of this bone, presenting the marks of the attachment of a fibro-cartilage, 

 which intervened between it and the os temporis, is more than an inch 

 across its longest diameter. From this end the bone tapers with some 

 degree of regularity to its cervical extremity, which is pointed. The bone 

 is curved at its upper part; and one side of the curved portion is fluted 

 like the human clavicle, where the subclavian muscle lies under it. The 

 texture of the bone is quite dense ; for which reason it has been preserved in 

 a state of perfect integrity, notwithstanding the slenderness of its form. 



In front of the occipital hole lies the basi-occipital process, which 

 has a keel projecting downwards. On each side of this are the posterior 

 foramina lacera, which are not large, and have an oblong fissural form, 

 terminating posteriorly in a rounded cavity. These fissures probably give 

 passage to the sublingual nerves, as there is certainly no foramen in the 

 occipital condyle. Or these nerves may pass through apertures, which lie 

 in the lateral direction towards the glenoid cavity. The same deficiency 

 also exists in my heads of the Asiatic Elephant. 



