On leave granted, Dr. John Neill presented an abstract of a paper
written for the American Journal of Medical Sciences, entitled “ Ob-
servations on the Occipital and Superior Maxillary Bones of the Jifri-
can Cranium.’’ A peculiarity in the condyloid process of the occiput
was pointed out, which is not generally noticed in works on Anatomy.
It consists in a division of the process into two parts by a ridge or
groove; showing a tendency in the basi-occipital bone of the fee tai, or
young head, to be permanently retained. This peculiarity occurs
oftener in the African than in any other head. In this respect there is
an analogy to the lower orders of the vertebrata. The superior maxil-
lary bone of the African head is also defective in a ridge which is con-
tinuous with the nasal process, and reaches to the anterior nasal spinal
in the Caucasian head. In the African, the lower edge of the anterior
nares is flat, and in this respect resembles the foetal head, and the heads
of inferior animals.—Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Philadelphia, 1849.