266 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 



larly shaped palmar pad, either entirely naked or partly over- 

 grown with coarse hair extending crosswise from the inner 

 border over more or less of its extent ; this main pad divided 

 by a decided transverse groove from a much smaller postero- 

 exterior one, which is entirely hairy, or partly so, or perfectly 

 naked, in different cases. The claws are all compressed, 

 arched, with rounded ridge and sharp edge underneath, origi- 

 nally acute but generally blunted with use. The three middle 

 ones are subequal in length, much longer than either of the 

 lateral ones, and project still further, owing to the shortness of 

 the lateral digits ; they are also stouter than the others. The 

 lateral claws are subequal to each other, and they reach half- 

 way (more or less) to the ends of the middle ones ; they are 

 more compressed and not so strong, the inner one especially 

 being thin, sharp, and falcate. As usual in such cases of spe- 

 cial developments of parts, the rate of variation in size, both 

 absolute and relative, is high, not permitting more strict state- 

 ments than the above. Either one of the three larger middle 

 claws may exceed the other two in size, and, of the lateral ones, 

 either may surpass the other. The inner claw, however, appa- 

 rently preserves its decidedly thin and falcate condition. 



The hind feet are much like the fore, on the whole, with, how- 

 ever, a decided reduction in size, and especially in the develop- 

 ment of the claws. The foot is about four times as long as 

 broad, of nearly equal width throughout, hairy above and 

 completely so below, more than half-way from the heel to the 

 ends of the toes. Much as in the fore foot, the digits under- 

 neath present a crescent, of five bald pads, of which the lateral 

 ones, and especially the outer one, are somewhat disconnected ; 

 with a deeply excavated interval, these pads are succeeded by 

 a single large bald callosity, heart-shaped in general contour, 

 incompletely divided by several radiating impressions into 

 four, sometimes five parts. These grooves are not constant, 

 nor are the resulting partitions always of the same size and 

 shape. The relative lengths of the digits, and of the claws 

 they bear, are essentially the same as in the fore foot ; but all 

 the claws are very much smaller, a\id the lateral ones scarcely 

 or not attain the base of the 2d and ith respectively. These 

 hind claws, however, as compared with the fore, differ remark- 

 ably in construction, though of much the same shape ; they 

 are less compressed, and, instead of being sharp -edged along the 

 median line below, they are deeply excavated underneath — 



