232 
A First Study of the Burmese Skull 
9. On the "Remarks" as to the Cranial Anomalies. 
Lastly, having examined direct measurements and type contours we turn to 
the Cranial "Remarks" which accompany the table of individual measurements in 
Appendix II. 
The re-examination of the series of skulls for anomalies or other points which 
seemed worthy of comment, was carried out on the following system — lacking 
which, any contribution which these customary comments may make has extremely 
little value. 
A list was made of characters and anomalies for which each skull should be 
examined, a list partly suggested by the comments made by previous workers in 
the school. Of the features included in this list, it may be rightly assumed that 
when they are not mentioned in the " Remarks," they do not exist in the skull under 
consideration. 
The points are as follows: 
Age and signs of age. Where no comment is made the skull is adult, with sutures 
joined but not obliterated; basilar synchondrosis is noted where it exists; also any 
teeth that are in process of coming through, or, on the other hand, any considerable 
loss of teeth during life and the consequent absorption of the alveolus: this of 
course may occur in the younger skulls, but is more associated with old age; any 
falUng-in or thinning of the calvarium, due to old age, has been looked for and 
noted. 
Teeth. Any case of undeveloped or imperfectly developed third molars (as 
when they have but a single fang and resemble incisors in shape and size) has been 
commented on. The only cases in which it would be impossible to detect this would 
be those in which the alveolus was absorbed in the molar region. I have also noted 
cases of extreme attrition of the teeth, where they remain. Many teeth show signs 
of very rough usage, presumably due to betel chewing, and are so worn, especially 
on the inner side, that they present a surface with a steep slope towards the palate. 
Very often they are considerably blackened also by this habit. 
Palate. Each was examined for the existence of bony ridges across the palatine 
grooves leading from the pterygo-palatine canals, and referred to by Le Double*. 
Where such a one is thrown over the inner groove on either side, it is described as 
an inner palate bridge, left or right; over the outer groove as an outer palate bridge. 
On thirteen of our skulls the palate was missing; on the remaining 129 we found 
a bridge in seven cases over the inner palatine groove, (five times on R, twice on L) 
and in one case over the outer groove (on L). 
Thus of 129 Burman and Burmese-hybrid skulls, 5-4 per cent, have an inner 
palate- bridge, 0-8 per cent, an outer. We may insert these figures into the table 
quoted by Le Double from Buntaro Adachif. 
* Variations des Os de la Fate, p. 266. 
f B. Adachi, Zeitschrift filr Morphologie und Anthropologic, Band ii, S. 202. Stuttgart, 1900. 
