and articular aspect of the process is deeply concave and looks forwards and outwards,
and is oval with a narrow upper end. A deep and wide concavity occurs
immediately above it, on the same line with the mastoid process, hut separated from
the latter by a convexity. Above the concavity there is an outwardly projecting
ridge (part of the ridge which arises from the upper border of the mastoid process),
the under surface of which is covered with an elongated articular surface for the
upper articular facet of the lower jaw.
The tympanic is more than a mere ring, as its internal margin is a thin plate
arching outwards over one-third of the space defined by the ring itself. The
imperfection of the cranial wall covered by the tympanic is more reduced in size
than in most Soricine skulls. The occipital condyles are of moderate size, and look
downwards, outwards, and backwards, and there is a well-marked precondylar
foramen with the foramen lacervm posteri/us, anterior and external to it, and
behind and external to this foramen an obscure, but, at the same time, distinct
par-occipital1 process, anterior to which and separated by a rather deep fossa is a
(carotid ?) foramen. Immediately above this process, which is continuous with the
lambdoidal ridge, and posterior to the latter, and above the level of the condylar
surface, there is a well-marked foramen leading directly into the lateral sinus, at
the junction of the supra-occipital and the petromastoid. Immediately external,
to the tympanic, there is a strong (mastoid ?) process directed forwards and outwards
formed by projections from the petro-mastoid and squamous. Above and
external to this process there is a ridge running forwards along the side of the skull
and terminating anteriorly in the facet for the articulation of the superior division
of the condyle of the lower jaw. This ridge is immediately below the line of union
of the squamous and parietal bones. Behind it, there is a small foramen leading
directly into the lateral sinus. Posterior to the facet which looks outwards, forwards,
and downwards, there is a shallow notch, immediately above which, on the
parietal, are one or two venous foramina. Below the anterior extremity of the
superior of the two facets for the mandible are two or three large foramina, placed
one above the other, and a very minute foramen associated with them. The most
superior of these foramina leading over the posterior, external angle of the cribriform
plate passes through the ridge of the ali-sphenoid opening on its posterior margin,
anterior to and slightly below the orifice of the small venous foramen above the
posterior end of the superior, condylar facet. The second and middle foramen, when
there are three, communicates directly with the cribriform plate of the ethmoid, and
the third opens into the optic foramen internally. These two or three foramina are
situated immediately behind the sphenoidal fissure, and between the superior
extremity of the inferior, glenoid, articular surface and the anterior end of the facet
above it. The sphenoidal fissure and foramen rotwndwn are represented both by a
single opening which is also common to the optic nerve. There is a minute foramen
in the centre of the interspace between the two optic foramina. The posterior palatine
In the skull of a Pachyura from Amoy, the paroccipital process is rather strongly developed.
canal is situated above and external to the root of the last molar. The sphenopalatine
foramen is large and placed in front of the foregoing canal, and in the
posterior termination of the infra-orbital foramen. The latter, placed over the
anterior margin of the first molar, opens into a long canal, relatively longer than in
Ermaceus, and the lachrymal canal, instead of being situated as in that genus at
the anterior margin of the orbit, is placed on the anterior border of the external
long wall of the infra-orbital foramen, the canal being directed upwards, forwards
and downwards.
The lower jaw is shorter than in the generality of known shrews, and the
angular process is less strongly developed. The horizontal ramus is short and thick,
hardly equalling the height of the ascending ramus. The condyle is divided into
two, its lower half being placed on the inside of the ascending ramus, immediately
above the angular process, and separated from its upper division by a wide notch,
the general direction of the inferior articular surface being backwards, downwards,
and inwards, and that of the superior half upwards and inwards. The excavation
of the inner surface of the ascending ramus is smaller than in Tachyura, and
the -coronoid process is lower, being only a little elevated above the superior facet
of the divided condyle.
JDentition.—Young, new-born individuals show the premaxillary suture
between the first and second small lateral teeth, so that the dental formula is
2{ 2+ l + 2T6g | 26-
The teeth are white. The first incisor of the upper jaw is curved downwards
and forwards, and the process at the posterior aspect of its base is laterally
compressed and longitudinally grooved, almost dividing it into two, the inner
division being the smaller, the groove being continued on to the posterior aspect
of the long crown of the tooth. The crown of the second incisor is laterally
compressed and triangular, with its point directed backwards. The inner aspect of
the crown is little prolonged beyond the neck of the tooth, and is more or less
flattened, with a small tubercle about the middle of its internal margin. The
canine has much the form of the foregoing tooth, but is smaller, and the inner
surface also shows a trace of a tubercle as in the former. The first molar has the
greatest vertical extension of the permanent teeth. I t has two external cusps, the
anterior very small, the other deep and cutting, with its point directed slightly
backwards, and a long prominent ridge continued outwards and posteriorly from
its hinder margin, also two, short, sharply conical internal cusps, a short low ridge
passing forwards and outwards from the posterior of the two. The second molar
has 6ne external cusp on its anterior outer angle: a short ridge passing internally
connects it with the first of the median line of cusps which form a triapicai, zigzag
ridge, the last cusp marking the posterior external angle of the tooth. There are two
internal and much shorter cusps of which the anterior is twice as large as the posterior
: the former gives- off a short low ridge that ends on the inner side of the
centre cusp of the middle triapicai ridge. The third molar is only half the size of
u