WHOLE VOL. SKELETAL REMAINS OF EARLY MAN HRDUCKA 265 



Bones of the hands. — The metacarpals are unusually long and stout, 

 with very strong articular extremities. The hands of the fossil man 

 of La Chapelle were decidedly large and strong ; but the thumb ap- 

 pears to have been relatively shorter than at present. The articular 

 facets of the bones that are preserved show some interesting peculiari- 

 ties not generally present in man of today. 



The pehns. — The very incomplete pelvis is long (/. c, high) in 

 relation to its breadth ; but in general, as far as it can be judged from 

 the bones present, it presented proportions and form similar to those 

 of the pelves of modern man, especially those in which the sacrum 

 is narrow. The bones were robust, massive. The ilia were rather 

 flat. The great sciatic notch is deep and narrow. As far as repre- 

 sented, the pelvic bones of the La Chapelle skeleton resemble exceed- 

 ingly closely the pelvic bones of Neanderthal man. 



The femora. — The femora are in pieces. Carefully reconstructed 

 by Boule, they show in all their characteristics close relation to the 

 Neanderthal and Spy femora. The bones are stout, the extremities 

 are large. The right and the left bones dififer but slightly in strength. 

 The shafts show uniform curvature forward, even a trace stronger 

 apparently than that of the Neanderthal and Spy femora. The linea 

 aspera is somewhat more marked than in Neanderthal and Spy. 

 Platymery is wanting. Of the lower extremities of the femora there 

 are but fragments, on which definite observations are difficult ; but 

 what remains indicates the same characteristics of this part of the 

 bone as exist in the Neanderthal and the Spy femora. 



The patellae. — The two patellae of La Chapelle are well preserved. 



The right bone measures 4.6 in breadth, 3.9 in height, and 2.1 cm. 

 in thickness. The bone is somewhat smaller than those of Spy No. 2 

 and those of Krapina. 



The tibiae. — The tibiae are very incomplete. They were relatively 

 short and strong, and were not platycnemic, closely resembling those 

 of Spy. The extremities were voluminous. The upper end shows 

 a more marked retroversion backward than is present in the modern 

 tibiae. The shaft shows but a slight lateral curvature in its upper 

 third. 



The fibulae. — Present, the upper half of the shaft of the right bone. 

 It is remarkable for its stoutness, and for its sub-cylindrical form 

 which diiifcrs from those of modern bones. 



The astragalus. — Present, the left bone only, somewhat damaged. 

 It is relatively shorter, higher, and especially broader than the astrag- 

 ali of present man of all races. The shortness of the bone is especially 



