IO LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY. 



its being pushed backwards in the rapid movement of the 

 paws ; and the two portions of the bone form a kind of hook, 

 or crochet. In repose, the superior extremity of this phalange 

 is placed almost vertically, while the other end lies nearly 

 parallel to the second joint. The articulation is situated at 

 the upper end of the vertical portion, and the flexor tendons, 

 passing over the upper part of the bone, are firmly fixed to 

 the other portion. The action of the deep-seated flexor — the 

 flexor profundus — causes the whole bone to move through an 

 angle of ninety degrees round the end of the second phalarge. 

 This last phalange is kept in its retracted condition by the 

 tendon a, which passes from the extensor tendon up to the 

 base of the sup2rior or first phalange, and also by the elastic 

 ligaments b and c, proceeding by double heads from the ten- 

 dinous expansion at the top of the second phalange, and form- 

 ing bands on each side to unite at the palmar base of the 

 claw. From the twisted form of the second phalange, the first 

 does not move over its end in the same plane, but on retraction 

 falls a little to the outer side. In the figure, d indicates the 

 strong round tendon of the flexor profundus, which passes 

 over the superior extremity of the last phalange to e, as over a 

 pulley, thus giving prodigious power to the action of its 

 muscle. This tendon does not arise, as in man, directly 

 from the belly of the muscle, but from a flat irregular cartila- 

 ginous body, 2^4 inches long and 1% broad, attached to the 

 lower end of the muscle, and sliding between the annular liga- 

 ment and a very thick fascia covering the bottom of the fore- 

 paw ; from this substance five very strong tendons proceed to 

 the fingers, which perforate the tendons of the sublimus nearly 

 as in other animals. They are strongly strapped down, as seen 

 in the figure. 



In all the more typical Cats the head is remarkable for its 

 rounded and shortened form, while the jaws are likewise 



