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Show 68G MR. G. E. DOBSON ON THE [J' supporting the orifices of the large posterior pair of air-sacs which extend beneath the integument of the sides of the neck1. This peculiar development of the pharynx, larynx, and hyoid bones is well seen in Epomophorus franepieti. In that species the spacious cavity of the mouth opens into the wide and deep pharynx by a very restricted aperture, the inferior transverse diameter of which is not half the width of the tongue, and scarcely capable of Hyoid bones and muscles of Epomophorus franqueti (enlarged). b.hy. Basihyal bone with which the long thyrohyals, th.hy, are ankylosed (the latter are shown diagrammatically, as in nature they are hooked round the thyroid cartilage); ccr.hy, ceratohyal bone; ep.hy, epi-hyal bone rotated forwards, showing its outer surface deeply concave for the neck of the posterior pharyngeal sac, and its prominent articular extremity (x) separating and acting as a pulley for the fleshy tendons (my.hy) of the mylo-hyoid and (hy.yl) hyo-glossus muscles; to its upper margin is attached the tendon (st.hy) of the stylo-hyoid muscle. admitting a hemp-seed, and which can evidently be completely closed by muscular action. In two male specimens the tip of the epiglottis is nearly three quarters of an inch from the fauces. The laryngeal walls are ossified, forming a large projection in the posterior 1 The writer was unable to embody any part of these remarks in the introduction to his work on the Chiroptera (Catal. Chiropt. Brit. Mus. 1878) owing to the want of specimens available for anatomical examination. Lately, however, chiefly owing to the kindness of Drs. T. W . Wright and J. J. Lamprey, of the Army Medical Department, and Dr. Eobb, of H'.M.'s Indian Army, who forwarded well-preserved specimens of Epomophori from the west and' east coasts of Africa, he has succeeded in obtaining most of the material which forms the basis of this paper. |
