422 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



scribed and figured not a foetal but an adult skull, apparently 

 of a man between the ages of thirty and fifty, in which the 

 parietal bones of both sides are divided by longitudinal 

 sutures, each into two equal parts, making in all four sym- 

 metrically disposed parietal bones. This skull then differs 

 from my foetal one, in which there are only three such bones 

 unsymmetrically disposed, and in which the two parts of 

 the divided parietal bone are not equal, the upper piece 

 being twice the size of the lower.* 



I may also state, that the fcetal head, the peculiarity of 

 whose parietal bones I have just described, presented in a 

 marked manner the condition of Split Palate. In the recent 

 state the interior of the nasal fossae was completely visible 

 on opening the mouth ; and as regards the dried bones, the 

 palate plates of the superior maxillary and palate bones are 

 entirely deficient, the superior maxillary bone articulating 

 with its fellow of the opposite side only in front, and by the 

 part corresponding to the intermaxillary of the other mam- 

 malia. Further than this the cranium presents nothing 

 worthy of note. 



III. Remarks on the so called Raised Sea-Beach Bed in the Neigh- 

 bourhood of Leith, and its Relations to other Deposits., By James 

 M'Bain, M.D., R.N. 



The superficial deposits which repose upon the grooved and 

 dressed surface of the solid rocks have been classified under 

 various appellations, according to the opinions entertained 

 from time to time as to their mode of origin. In the " Ke- 

 liquise Diluvianae," published in 1823, the superficial strata 

 are ascribed to a recent and transient inundation, considered 

 to be identical with the Noachian Deluge ; hence the terms 

 diluvial, ante-diluvial, and post-diluvial, adopted in that cele- 

 brated work. These names ceased to be employed in this 

 sense by geologists after the well-known reply of Dr Fleming, 

 entitled " The Geological Deluge, as interpreted by Baron 



* Since the above has been in print, I have seen in " Henle's Anatomy" 

 a reference to yet another analogous case, recorded by Gruber, " Abhand- 

 lungen aus der Menschl. und Vergl. Anatomie," § 113. Unfortunately I have 

 not been able to see this latter work. 



