RUMINANTIA. 



523 



It will be remarked that the proportionate 

 difference, as here indicated, is much less in 

 the Arabian camel than in the more typical 

 ruminants. 



The femur (fig. 346. B. 1) resembles for 

 the most part that of other mammifera, being 

 characterised by a rather short shaft and 

 neck, and having the head placed nearly in a 

 line with the longitudinal axis. The great 

 trochanter is prominent, and forms the 

 highest point when the limb is placed in an 

 upright position. The inter-trochanteric fossa 

 is capacious. The bone presents at the inferior 

 end an extended articular surface, and bulges 

 at the forepart, where it is deeply grooved 

 for the patella and tendon of the quadratus 

 muscle. Behind the external condyle is a hol- 

 low, and its rough outer margin is continuous 

 with the faintly indicated linea aspera. In 

 the Giraffe the distal extremity of the thigh- 

 bone attains a prodigious development. The 

 nutritious artery enters at the anterior aspect 

 of the cylinder a little below the cervix, as in 

 other keratopherous ruminants ; we have also 

 observed the arterial foramen of the left side 

 to be about half an inch lower than on the 

 right, an arrangement analogous to the devia- 

 tion noticed in connection with the humerus 

 of this species. 



Thelpatella (d) is comparatively small and 

 compressed laterally ; it is sharp in front, and 

 the applied surface exhibits two well marked 

 facets. 



The tibia (2) is the longest bone of the 

 hind leg, and is chiefly remarkable for the 

 prominence of its spine, which projects from 

 the upper fourth of the shaft and presents a 

 sharp ridge directed outwards. A long styli- 

 form fibula is stated to exist in Moschus, which 

 is united to the external border of the tibia. In 

 the Javanese Musk preserved in the Edin- 

 burgh College of Surgeons Museum, there is 

 no appearance of this bone. Slight traces of 

 the fibula, however, are met with in other 

 cervine genera, in the form of small osseous 

 nodules jutting from the head of the tibia, 

 and in some of the Deer tribe there is likewise 

 to be noticed a small bone constituting the 

 external maleolus (fig. 346, D A. 3). This 

 supplementary piece is, in all probability, the 

 representative of the lower end of the fibula, 

 and it is articulated by three distinct facets 

 to the tibia, os calcis, and the astragalus. 



The bones of the tarsus, properly so con- 

 sidered, are five in number, viz., 05 calcis, 

 (2) and os astragnlus (5), two ossa cunci- 

 formes (8), and a single mass (9) resulting 

 from the union of the os scaplwidcs and os cu- 

 boides. In the Giraffe and in certain Antelopes 

 and Deer the two cuneiforms are conjoined. 

 The bone of the heel is in all much elongated. 



In Camelidse the scaphoids and cuboids (D 4- 

 and 9) are disconnected. 



In conformity with the disposition of the 

 metacarpal bones in the anterior limbs, the 

 metatarsals form a single cannon bone pos- 

 teriorly (10). More evident traces of ori- 

 ginal duplicity are observable in the latter, 

 than in the corresponding cylinder of the 

 fore-limb, owing to the presence of a fur- 

 row in front in addition to the one placed 

 behind ; the latter groove being moreover 

 particularly deep. In Cervida? and Ante- 

 lopida;, splint-bones homologous with the 

 metatarsals of the second and little toes of 

 the human subject are occasionally present, 

 to support two supernumerary digits as 

 obtains in the fore-leg; but these spurious 

 phalanges are sometimes seen without the 

 styliform appendages. In Moschus the rudi- 

 mentary metatarsals acquire a much greater 

 significance, extending upward nearly as far 

 as the tarsus (c, fig. 348.). We have already 



Fig. 348. 



Bones of the hind limb of Moschus. (From Lond. 

 Coll. Surg. Museum.) 



alluded to a similar peculiarity in the meta- 

 carpus of this aberrant genus. The disposi- 

 tion of the true digital phalanges and their 

 accompanying ossa sessamoidea simulates in 

 every respect that displayed in the con- 

 struction of the cloven foot of the anterior 

 extremity. 



MYOLOGY. The muscles of ruminants ex- 

 hibit few peculiarities apart from those of 

 quadrupeds generally. They present arrange- 

 ments very similar to those seen in Solipeda, 

 and in the article devoted to the considera- 

 tion of that group, numerous comparisons 

 have been instituted in reference to the more 

 important myological deviations found in this 

 order. Selecting principally the Ox and 

 Sheep as types, we have to offer, in regard 

 to this great system of motary organs, the 

 following particulars : 



Pannicidus carnosus. Traces of this super- 

 ficial muscular investment exist over the 

 whole surface of the trunk, but in certain 

 localities the fibres are more cogent, and form 

 separate bundles, so as to assume more or 

 less the character of distinct muscles. Eight 



