3. The greater weight and size, as well as the greater prominence of the brow-ridges and ridges at the back of the skull, serve to distinguish the male _sex_, but in many cases the determination of sex is almost impossible. As regards _age_, skulls are conveniently described as immature, adult or senile. Immature skulls lack the full complement of teeth or of sockets for these, and a deep cleft is seen to cross the base of the skull about an inch in front of the large hole (foramen magnum) for the spinal cord. Upon the attainment of maturity this cleft is obliterated, by the fusion of its margins. In senile crania, the sutural lines on the surface are almost entirely obliterated, and the jaws are toothless and much reduced in size and prominence. 4. The skull may be deformed. It is important to attempt to distinguish _deformation_ produced during life (either artificially or otherwise) from that determined by the weight of superincumbent soil after interment. Artificial deformation is manifested in most cases by flattening of the forehead, or of the back of the skull, or of both. But posthumous deformation is quite irregular, the face is often involved as well as the brain-case, there is often extreme flattening from side to side, and the bones are usually fragile and tend to fall apart. 5. _Trephine-holes_, indicative of enterprise in operative surgery, should be noted. The regularity of contour and the size of the hole often gives the clue to its real nature. It must be remembered that, in the process of exhumation, injuries closely resembling the foregoing operative wounds may be received by skulls, and therefore the circumstances of exhumation demand enquiry in this connection. Some skulls are found to have been incised or engraved with decorative patterns after death. 6. _Craniological descriptions_ deal with the appearances presented by skulls in each of the five normal positions or aspects depicted in Fig. 1. In the first view or aspect (Fig. 1, B) the general form of the skull is shewn, and in proportions the cranial case may be either elongated or rotund; or again, if elongated, it may be elliptical (with no great difference in form between front and back), ovoid (when the hinder end is the broader), or rhomboid (lozenge or diamond-shaped). In Fig. 1, C, the profile line, and its modification by prominent brow-ridges or jaws, claims attention. In Fig. 1, D, the general form of the eye (orbital aperture) and nose (nasal aperture), as well as the relative breadth of the face, are considered. Fig. 1, E, shows the palate, and the number and forms of the teeth are studied from this point of view. In Fig. 1, A, the form of the transverse cranial arc, and any irregularities, such as flattening or the production of a keeled (scaphoid) appearance, should be noted. [Illustration: FIG. 1.