Observations on the genus Salamandra : and description of a new genus of quadrupeds, of the order Edentata / by Richard Harlan.

  • Harlan, Richard, 1796-1843.
Date:
[1825]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the genus Salamandra : and description of a new genus of quadrupeds, of the order Edentata / by Richard Harlan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    20/42 (page 240)
    there exists a considerable concavity between them, which, in the recent state, was filled with an adipose, gristly mass, which served to unite the skull to the plates above. The snout commences anteriorly to these processes, and is rapidly attenuated and depressed. The ossa nasi are broad and strong, slightly arched transversely, extending anteriorly be- yond the os incisivum, as does likewise the osseous septum narium. The zygomatic processes are laterally arched; a small pointed process, descending near the malar bone, (some- what like that in the sloth); the zygomatic fossee are large. The labyrinth is protuberant, and occupies the usual situa- tion at the base of the skull; joined to which is the tympa- num ;—to the last is attached a bony cylinder, stretching first upwards behind the zygomatic process of the temporal bone, around which it makes a sudden curve, and runs forward and upwards to terminate at the external ear. This structure, which I believe is peculiar to the animal before us, will be better un- derstood by referring to the plate. Dower jaw. Anterior portion shaped like that of the ele- phant, much elongated ; the general form and proportion re- sembles very closely the lower jaw of the sheep, the base being considerably arched, and the curve at the posterior part, form- ing with the base nearly a right angle, projecting obliquely outwards : the base is marked by eight slightly elevated pro- tuberances, occasioned by the roots of the teeth ; the condyloid process is longer than the coronoid ; in the sheep, this is re- versed : the articulation at the glenoid cavity is such as to admit of great freedom of motion. Length of the base of the lower jaw one inch ; length of the angle five tenths ; greatest width two and a half tenths; width of the angle three tenths. Teeth. Incisors, none in either jaw ; molars, eight in num- ber, on either side of the upper and lower jaws, all approxi- mate ; disposed in separate alveoli; the crowns of the two first only, approach to a point, and thus much resemble canine teeth ; the six remaining are all nearly flat on the crowns: