What is the skull?

What it is

• The skull is supported on the summit of the vertebral column, and is of an oval shape, wider behind than in front. It is composed of a series of flattened or irregular bones which, with one exception (the mandible), are immovably jointed together. It is divisible into two parts: (1) the cranium, which lodges and protects the brain, consists of eight bones, and (2) the skeleton of the face, of fourteen, as follows: Skull, 22 bones Cranium, 8 bones Occipital. Two Parietals. Frontal. Two Temporals.
• Sphenoidal. Ethmoidal. Face, 14 bones Two Nasals. Two Maxillæ. Two Lacrimals. Two Zygomatics. Two Palatines. Two Inferior Nasal Conchæ. Vomer. Mandible. In the Basle nomenclature, certain bones developed in association with the nasal capsule, viz., the inferior nasal conchæ, the lacrimals, the nasals, and the vomer, are grouped as cranial and not as facial bones.