298 
DE. CLELAND ON THE EELATIONS 
The posterior extremity of the feline vomer, as I have observed it in the Lion, Tiger, 
Leopard, and Cat (fig. 7, A), is of a well-marked constant form, viz. the posterior margin 
of the ethmovomerine laminae is a straight line across, and behind it the vomer sends 
back a narrow process between the palatals. In the canine family the ethmovomerme 
laminae are very broad, and their posterior margins slope backwards and inwards to the 
posterior extremity of the vomer (fig. 8). 
In the Bears and their allies the mesial-palatine processes of the intermaxillaries come 
in contact with the lateral plates of the same bones behind the incisive foramina, and in 
the middle line between them there is also a characteristic foramen (fig. 9). This fora- 
men varies very much in different species, and also in individuals. The TIrsus ornatus, 
in three specimens in the Museum at the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, has it larger than 
any other bear’s skull in that collection. The TIrsus maritimus has it always of con- 
siderable size. In TIrsus arctos and TIrsus americanus it is small and variable. The 
Coati Mondi has this foramen very large ; and I observe it, but small, in the Weasel, the 
Marten, the Glutton, and the Hyaena, very small in the Badger, and not at all in the 
Civet and the Otter. The inferior margin of the vomer of the Weasel, notwithstanding 
the length of the hard palate, is very short ; it articulates with the intermaxillaries, and 
only for a very short distance with the maxillaries. 
In the Seal the ethmoid is so compressed that the elements of which it is composed 
are brought close together ; so close that beneath the nasal bones the central plate, which 
is slightly flattened out above, comes in contact with and is soldered to the outer plates of 
the lateral masses (fig. 10). There is no need in this instance of a special ethmovomerine 
lamina to unite the vomer and lateral mass ; they are in contact, and are anchylosed 
directly with one another. At an early age the central plate of the ethmoid of the 
Seal becomes closely connected with the vomer ; yet even after it has extended down to 
the vomerine groove, one can mark this distinction, viz. that the central plate replaces 
the septal cartilage, while the vomer surrounds it. The vomer merely touches the 
intermaxillaries, and does not reach back to the palate bones. 
The arrangement in the Hedgehog is interesting in this respect, — that, owing, I pre- 
sume, to the unarched form of the head, the inferior margin of the central plate of the 
ethmoid intervenes for about a third of an inch between the vomer and presphenoid ; so 
that if the maxillary and palate bones be removed from a hedgehog’s skull, there are 
seen extending in a straight line forwards, the bodies of the occipital, postsphenoid, and 
presphenoid bones, the central plate of the ethmoid with a slightly flattened edge lying 
between the ethmovomerine laminae, then the vomer, and lastly, the mesial-palatine 
processes of the intermaxillaries ; the whole presenting the appearance of a series of 
homologous elements (fig. II). 
Muminantia. — In the Ox, the Sheep (fig. 12), the Deer, the Camel, and the Alpaca, 
the vomer has the typical arrangement. The inferior margin is not prolonged back 
sufficiently far to articulate with the palate bones, and its anterior extremity is scarcely 
prolonged upon the intermaxillaries, but fits on to them in such a way as to make their 
