104 
Nasal bones and cartilages of the American Tapir. 
The dissection of the proboscis 
has afforded some points of inter¬ 
est. A brief description of its gene¬ 
ral structure, derived only from the 
dissection of a foetus, is given by 
Cuvier in the e Le 9 ons d’Anatomie 
.Comparee,’ but some remarkable 
details seem not as yet to have 
been noticed. The deep notch on 
each side of the base of the pro¬ 
jecting nasal bones, which forms 
so striking a characteristic in the 
skull, may be very readily, and 
probably always has been, pre¬ 
sumed to be intended for muscu¬ 
lar attachment; but its real office 
is to lodge the posterior termina¬ 
tion of the lateral cartilage of the 
nose. These lateral cartilages, 
arising from that of the septum 
immediately beneath the ossa nasi, 
proceed outwards as usual, but the 
edge curls inwards, forming one 
entire convolution, of which the 
outer part forms posteriorly a flat¬ 
tened tube with a blind extremity, 
curved upwards, and its termina¬ 
tion lodged in the notch alluded 
to. From the edge, which is of 
course concealed, a thickened li¬ 
near prominence is continued up¬ 
wards within the commencement 
of the blind tube, but, instead of 
following its curve, terminates in a 
trace whatever of the alar cartilage 
being entirely of a soft substance. 
Fig. 1. 
Superior aspect. 
rounded extremity. There is no 
, the remainder of the proboscis 
With the addition of the pair of 
Fig. 2. 
Lateral aspect.—A portion of the outer wall of the cartilage cut away to show the 
internal convolution. 
