THE MUSCLES OF THE UPPER EXTREMITY. 123 



or Forbes, and in the absence of the works of other 

 authors I shall be obliged to name them as best I may, 

 and as the functions they perform seem to indicate. 



I must believe that if Mr. Garrod had paid as much 

 attention to certain groups of the muscles of the arm, 

 forearm, and pinion in birds, as he did to certain re- 

 stricted groups of muscles of the lower extremity, he 

 would have discovered characters of value in classifica- 

 tion fully as significant as those he so ably elucidated in 

 the latter region. His excellent observations upon the 

 methods of origin and insertion of the tensor pafagii 

 brevis point most emphatically to that fact. As I have 

 so often repeated elsewhere, we may say as we please, 

 but the classification of animals will only be placed 

 beyond all doubt when their entire morphology is knoivn 

 and correctly comprehended, and duly utilized. 



In the freshly plucked wing of a Raven we notice 

 how very prominent the muscles of the forearm and 

 pinion are, more particularly the tendons and muscles 

 upon the inner aspect of the forearm. In this locality, 

 it will be seen, as in the case of the tendon of the ex- 

 tensor metacarpi radialis longior, that they are almost 

 completely ensheathed in the common integuments, so 

 prominently do they stand out. In removing the skin, 

 we discover a strong fibre-elastic cord, which passes from 

 the under side of the proximal end of the ulna, and 

 joins each and every quill of the row of large feathers 

 of the wing, at a distance of about a centimetre or 

 less, all the way to the distal apex of the pinion, towards 

 which it gradually converges, and where it is finally 

 attached. This semitendinous cord plays the part, to 

 a certain degree, of an antagonistic tendon to the 

 tendon of the tensor patayii longus, it being by no 

 means an inefficient flexor to the pinion upon the fore- 

 arm, and in closing the wing draws the hand towards the 



