THE MYOLOGY OF THE KABBIT. 373 



this, partly by the posterior excavation of fclie palatal plate of 

 the palatine, the roof of the palate is reduced to little more 

 than a transverse bar of bone. 



The scapula is long and narrow, and the backward process 

 of the acromion, to which reference has already been made, 

 gives attachment to a slip of the trapezius. A bony clavicle 

 is present, but it is incomplete at both ends. There is a supra- 

 condyloid foramen in the humerus. The radius and ulna are 

 complete, but are fixed in the attitude of pronation. 



The femur has a small third trochanter. The tibia and 

 fibula are anchylosed. The internal cuneiform bone is want- 

 ing, and the plantar surface of the 7iavlculare gives off a large 

 process. The inner side of the base of the second metatarsal 

 sends a process along the inner face of the meso-cunciform to 

 articulate with the naviculare. This may represent a rudiment 

 of the hallux with the en to-cuneiform. 



In the myology of the Rabbit the vast size of the flexors 

 and extensors of the back has already been noted. The mus- 

 cles moving the fore- and especially the hind-limbs, and the 

 7nasseter, are not less remarkable for their dimensions. In the 

 fore-limb, the supinator longus is absent. The extensor indicis 

 and secundi inter nodii 2^oUlcis iorm one muscle. The extensor 

 7ninimi dlglti goes to the fourth and fifth digits. The flexor 

 perforans and the flexor pollicis longus unite in a common 

 tendon which divides into five slips, one for each digit. There 

 are three lumbricales from the radial sides of the tendons for 

 the third, fourth, and fifth digits. T\\e flexor suhllmis^ ov p)er- 

 foratus^ for digits ^^., iii.^ and ^y,, arises from the inner con- 

 dyle as usual ; but that for the fifth digit springs from the 

 pisiform bone — thus simulating the ordinary arrangement of 

 the perforated flexor in the pes. There is no pronator quad' 

 ratus / but the palmaris longus is distinct, and its slender ten- 

 don expands into the palmar aponeurosis. Each digit, except 

 the pollex, has a pair oiflexores breves^ or interossei, which lie 

 on the palmar faces of the metacarpal bones. 



In the hind-limb, the soleus has only a fibular origin. The 

 plantaris is very large and ensheathed in the gastrocnemius ; 

 it ends in a tendon nearly as large as the tendo Achillis^ 

 which passes over the end of the calcaneam, being connected 

 with this and the tendo AchiUis by a strong fascia laterally, 

 but being otherwise separated from it by a synovial sac. la 

 he sole of the foot it divides into four tendons, which be- 

 come the perforated tendons of the four digits. The flexor 

 perforans and flexor hallucis are fused into one muscle, tha 



