214 



THE aEOLOGIST. 



Inches. 



Parietal diameter between parietal tubers . . • 5^ 

 Frontal diameter between anterior and inferior angles 

 of parietal bones . . . . > • • 4f 



Vertical diameter from fossa between occipital condyles 

 to top of skull . . . . . . .41- 



Intermastoid arch from one mastoid to the other, over 

 the calvarium . . . . . . .14^ 



Intermastoid line, measured in a straight line between 

 the points of the mastoid processes . . . .4 



Occipito-frontal arch, measured by a tape on the surface 

 of the cranium from the nasal suture to the posterior 

 margin of the foramen magnum . . . .14 



Horizontal periphery, by a tape round the cranium, so 

 as to touch the os frontis immediately above the 

 superciliary ridges, and the most prominent part of 

 the occipital bone ....... 20\ 



In the above table, I have used the system of measurement pro- 

 posed by Dr. Greorge Williamson.* 



It appears from the proportion of this (a female) skull, that the 

 breadth was to the length as l-j-^ : 10, and that it was consequently 

 " dolichocephalic." The type is oval, the frontal being rounded, with 

 a flat calvarium, and the parietal tubers moderately developed. The 

 occiput is oval, the inion being slightly protuberant ; the lower half 

 of the supraoccipital shelves gently downwards to the foramen mag- 

 num. The occipital condyles are flattened. The alisphenoid and the 

 parietal join on both sides of the head, with small ossa wormiana 

 intercalated in the suture. The frontal suture is obliterated. Above 

 the interorbital space is a slight projection, possibly coincident with, 

 though not necessarily an indication of the frontal sinus. Behind 

 the coronal suture, the calvarium is slightly depressed, perhaps in- 

 dicating the use of a constricting bandage compressing the cranium. 

 From these characters it appears that no distinctive points can be 

 predicted of this cranium, as diflerentiating it from the skulls of the 

 existing individuals who inhabit the valley of the Thames. To this 

 skull was adherent a small amount of fine mud, apparently of the 

 same chemical constituency as the clay-bed of the river Thames or 

 Lea. The whole of the animal matter was present in the skull, 

 which did not adhere when applied to the tongue. 



Borris (bed of Nore), Ireland. — The supraorbitals here are slightly 

 more prominent than in the Blackwater, less so than in the Valley of 

 the Trent skull. The lambdoidal suture is very complex, and developes 

 many o.^sa wormiana on both sides. The fractured condition of the 

 ^^kull precludes any observation as to the junction of the parietals 

 and alisphenoids, or as to the presence of' a paroccipital tubercle. 

 The opportunity of inspecting this skull at leisure has been afibrded 

 to me by Prof. Huxley. 



* ' ObsciTafious on tlio Iluraan Crania contained in the Musenm of the Army Medical 

 Dopartmcnt, Chatham.' Svo. Dublin, 1857, p. 73. 



