REPORT ON THE SEALS. 27 



The 'patella was 21 mm. long, and almost flat on both its articular and cutaneous 

 surfaces. The upper end of the bone was very slightly thicker than the lower. 



The tibia had a broad upper end with two smooth surfaces for articulation with 

 the femoral condyles, and an intermediate rough part for the attachment of the crucial 

 ligaments and semilunar cartilages. Its shaft had three surfaces above but was antero- 

 posteriorly compressed below. The shaft had just below the condylar end a tubercle 

 for the attachment of the great patellar tendon, and externally an articular surface for 

 the fibula. About the middle of the ventral side of the shaft was a rough ridge for the 

 attachment of the gracilis tendon. The lower end of the tibia was prolonged into a 

 short malleolus, and articulated both with the fibula and the upper surface of the 

 astragalus ; it was grooved in front for the tendons of the tibialis anticus and long 

 extensor of the great toe ; whilst behind there was also a groove for the tendon of the 

 tibialis posticus. Its length was 201 mm. 



The fibula, although about equal in length to the tibia, had only half its bulk. Its 

 upper end was relatively broad ; the lower end was prolonged into a malleolus, and 

 articulated with the tibia, the outer surface of the astragalus, and by the posterior part 

 of its tip with a small area on the os calcis external to the astragalo-calcaneal articula- 

 tion. The epiphyses were not ankylosed to the shafts of the two bones of the leg. 

 The interval between their shafts was wide in the middle. 



The pes was pentadactylous and with dark yellowish -brown hair at the tips of the 

 toes both on the dorsal and plantar surfaces ; a small dark-brown nail, concealed amidst 

 the haii', was present on the dorsal aspect of the terminal phalanx of each toe. The 

 hallux and minimus, about equal in length, were much the longest digits, about 

 280 mm., they were rounded at the tip and the integument extended about 30 mm. 

 beyond the terminal phalanx. Digits 2 and 4, about equal to each other, though 

 2 was a little longer, reached a little beyond the line of articulation of the 2nd and 

 3rd phalanges of the thumb. Digit 3 was the shortest, and ended on a line with 

 the articulation of the 2nd and 3rd phalanges of digit 2. Each of the three segments 

 of the hallux was longer than the corresponding segment in the other digits. The 

 phalanges diminished in length from the 1st to the 3rd. The 3rd metatarsal was 

 the shortest. The 2nd metatarsal was equal in length to the 5th, and resembled in 

 shape the corresponding bone in the Elephant Seal ; it articulated behind with the 

 three cuneiforms, and the 1st and 3rd metatarsals. The 4th metatarsal was concave 

 on the external lateral surface at its proximal end where it articulated with the 5th 

 metatarsal. The first or so-called metatarsal segment of the hallux had both a 

 proximal and a distal epiphysis, a character which it shared along with all the 

 phalanges except the terminal, which latter had only a proximal epiphysis. The 

 metatarsal bone of each of the four outer toes had only a distal epiphysis. A pair of 

 sesamoid bones was situated on the plantar surface of each metatarso-phalangeal joint. 



