NEW PERMIAN VERTEBRATES. 



251 



panded distally. No phalanges areTpreserved. The second 

 metacarpal is much longer than the first, and is much constricted 

 in its middle. It has one short phalanx articulated with it, but 

 little more than half the length of the metacarpal. Additional 

 phalanges are not preserved, but, from its 

 size, it seems very probable that two more, 

 and not more than two, were originally pres- 

 ent. The third metacarpal is much like the 

 second, but is a little longer. Two phalanges 

 .are present, the first about two thirds the 

 length of the metacarpal ; the second frag- 

 mentary. There may have been a third, un- 

 gual phalanx present. The fourth metacarpal 

 is the longest and stoutest of all, its prox- 

 imal articulation more oblique than is the 

 case with the preceding one. The first pha- 



lanx is about three fifths the length of the 



FIG. 4. Labidosmirus. 

 Carpus ; one half natural 



size. 



metacarpal. The second phalanx, much 



shorter and smaller, has at its tip a small fragment. There may 

 have been a fourth phalanx, though there is not much proba- 

 bility of it. The fifth metacarpal is a little shorter than the 

 fourth, somewhat curved and more slender. It has a small and 

 short proximal phalanx and a fragment of a distal one at its tip. 

 In all probability there were no more. It is, it is seen, impossi- 

 ble to say with certainty what the phalangeal formula of Pario- 

 ticlins was, save that quite surely it was not that of the modern 

 lizards and Splienodon, 2, 3, 4, 5, 3. In much probability it was 



2, 3- 3- 4(3). 2. 



Pelvis. The under side of the pelvis lies in perfect preserva- 

 tion and position. It is, like the pectoral girdle, of the " old 

 fashioned " type, elongate and plate-like, without thyroid foramen. 

 The two sides meet in a long median symphysis, closely applied, 

 but not sutural. The pubes, broadest in front, have a slight emar- 

 gination in the middle in front. The small pubic foramen lies 

 near the acetabulum, at the junction of the first and second thirds 

 of the combined bone. Just inside this foramen, and a little to 

 the outer side of the middle of each pubis, a pronounced thicken- 

 ing or ridge runs forward to the anterior margin, forming a 



