The malar or jugular bones (4) do not offer any very striking peculiarities. They are bulky and strong in the Camelidm, and of great breadth below the orbit : in the Llamas they advance further forward upon the cheek than in the true Camels, and the zycomatic apophy-ses are very short. In Moschus the post-orbitar apophysis is of considerable size- that of the zygoma somewhat narrower (fig. 330.). In Antelopidoe and Cervidm generally, the malars are slender, and have short zygo matic apophyses: this latter feature is espe cially noticeable in the Giraffe. They are broad and of great thickness in CEgosceridw (fig. 335.), in which family and in Bovidw they are much prolonged upon the cheek, in the latter being a little bifurcate anteriorly at the maxillary line of suture (fig. 327.).
The palatines (6) are largely developed. In Camelidm, where the roof of the mouth is very long, the palatal laminx have a great longitudinal diameter ; in the Llamas the transverse suture extends to a level with the anterior border of the first true molar ; the central palatal cleft, which is angular, reaches the front margin of the middle or second true molar, while the lateral notches proceed as far only as the anterior border of the last molar. In Cervidse the palatals occupy a large square space at the inner and lower part of the orbit, but this is not the case in the Giraffe, where this part of the bone is rather smaller and lies partly concealed by the shelf-like process of the lachrymal and the molar prominence of the maxillary bone. The lateral fissures at the guttural margin of the palate are very wide in this family and extend deeper into the roof of the rnouth than does the mesial cleft. These three clefts are placed in the Giraffe nearly on the same level, the central fissure having a semi circular outline. In the Muntjack deer the two lateral notches are much in advance of the mesial cleft. The guttural portion of the combined palatines in CEgosceridm is of great breadth, and the fissures, which are not very deeply notched, are all very nearly on the same level (n, fip,. 336.) : the orbitar or spheno-palatine foramen. This opening is particularly capacious in the Sheep. In Bo vida. the palatines occupy about a fourth part of the oral roof: the ascending or suborbitar portions, which are of enormous bulk, are almost entirely hid by the lateral overlapping of the posterior border and supra-molar prominences of the upper jaw ; the palatal notches are very deep, especially the two lateral, which are remarkably broad and somewhat in advance of the mesial.
The vomer and ossa spongiosa seu turbinata, in consonance with the general extension of the facial bones in ruminants, are chiefly particularised for their longitudinal develop ment. In the orbits the wings of the vomer are represented by very small lamina., which appear at the upper border of the opening corresponding to the spheno-palatine fora men. In certain of the Stags the azygos portion descends between the pterygoid apophyses of the sphenoid to a level with the palate, dividing the mesial fissure in two and contributing to form in this region a backward expansion of the oral roof. The spongy bones will be referred to when de scribing the organ of smell.
The inferior maxilla or jaw-bone proper is of great length; in which respect it follows the course of the bones of the upper jaw. Between the canine and first premolar of either side there is in the typical ruminant, an extended interval, at which part the body is constricted ; and immediately in front of the mental foramen (r, ,fig. 337.) it again ex.
ascending plates are large and square, but deficient at the upper part, where there intervenes a space or hole analogous to the pands toward the alveolar margin to give support to the teeth. The angle of the jaw is proininent and rounded posteriorly; in this situation also it is comparatively thin and broad, as in Solipeda. The coronoid pro cesses of the rami (g, fig. 337.) are particu larly long curved backward, and a little hooked at the summit. The glenoid apo physis is short, and the facet flat and slightly concave, to admit of free lateral motion on the wide convex articular surface of the temporal zygoma. The sigmoid notch is shallow. In the Camel there is an additional process at the parotid border (w, fig. 331.), analogous to the similar but more marked apophysis in Carnivora.
Cranial peculiarities. — Under this head we proceed to notice certain arrangements re quiring further attention, and in the first place the remarkable sinuses which exist in the skull of the Giraffe. Though these be nothing more than an exte.nsion of the ordinary frontal, ethmoidal and sphenoidal cells, yet their significance is not the less apparent or important when considered in a physiological or teleological point of view.