136 ON THE FOSSIL TIGER 



nearly entire but the odnines are broken off at their bases. The fragility 

 of the specimen ftas deterred us from removing a portion of hard stony 

 matrix wifch fills up the right zygomatic fossa, and conceals the base of 

 the skull from the anterior margin of the occipital foramen on to the 

 posterior border of the palatine bones, 



(Plate XXI. Fig. 1.) Represents the head in profile and shews the 

 peculiarities of the fossil in the most striking light : 



1st. The relative shortness of the facial portion of the head, from the 

 post-orbitary apophyses of the frontal (a) to the border of the incisives ; 

 and the length of the cranial portion from the same point ( a) to the occi- 

 pital crest (b) ; the dimensions being as 124 to 153. In this respect it 

 differs from all existing species, in which, as exhibited by Cuvier,* the facial 

 portion of the head exceeds the cranial, generally, to a considerable extent. 



2d. The outline of the upper surface of the cranium and face. The 

 facial line (c a) runs with a gentle curve, slight convexity and nowise ser- 

 pentine, to the rear of the post-orbitary apophyses of the frontal. The 

 cranial line meets it without angularity, and runs back horizontally to the 

 occipital crest : so that when the head is seated on the occipital condyles 

 and carnassier teeth, the plane of the base of the cranium is parallel to that 

 of the vertex. In this respect it differs remarkably from all known large 

 species of Felis, in which the cranial line descends more or less either in a 

 curve or slope, from the post-orbitary apophyses to the occipital crest. 



3d. The saliency of the sagittal crest which greatly exceeds that of 

 all known Felina;. It is partly broken off in the original, but the dotted 

 line marks its direction. 



4th. The height of the occipital, which is relatively greater than in 

 any other known species of the genus. 



5th. The elevated position of the zj^gomatic arches, and the strongly 

 arched outline of their inferior margin. 



* Ossemens Fossiles, Vol. A, p. 147. 



