OCR Text |
Show 1897.] ON ABNORMAL SKULLS OF GOAT, BULLDOG, AND PIG. 473 Mr. R. E. Holding exhibited and made remarks upon a skull of the Theban Goat, Capra hircus, var. thehalca, a hornless variety of the domesticated Goat peculiar to North Africa and Egypt, which presented a curious shortening of the anterior portion of the skull, the premaxilla and maxilla being considerably reduced. The nasal bones, curved, and separated throughout their entire length from these bones, were articulated only with the frontal bone, and exposed the base of the turbinated bones in the interior of the nasal cavity. The lower jaw remaining the normal length, the incisors projected considerably beyond the premaxilla, preventing the animal from obtaining its food by the ordinary method of grazing. A. Theban Goat. B. English Coat. Mr. Holding also exhibited a fine Bulldog's skull and the skull of a Pig which indicated a similar arrest in the development of the anterior portion of the skull, clue directly to selective influences. Mr. Tegetmeier and others took part in a short discussion on this subject. |