i;V ii. II. BCOTT AM' CL1VB K. LORD. 29 



A study it' th comparative table thus supplied will 

 at once make manifest the superior bulk of the vertebra? 

 of Nototherium mitchelli, and it only remain- to contrast 

 the Nototherian vertebrae with a norma] marsupial type, 

 tc see th extent to which cervical specialisation has taken 



plaee. 



In the wombal the neck vertebra? are upon the whole 

 similar to those of the Notolheria, the neural spine of the 

 axis being wid . with an angular superficial slope of 45 

 \~' special union nil and the at- 



i.nit an spine, and the neurapophyses are not excavated 

 for th-. implantation of powerful muscles and ligan 

 What is trui of th two cervicals is equally tru< of 



tin- w h< for the in erlockii with 



the usual supply of interspinal -. and a normally 



sized Ligamentum nuch all the ne ds oi th. wom- 



bal - method of life, but n is otherwise with the Noto- 

 theria. In weakly horned animals (be they of stirpian or 

 ' ion i t le wi mbat ra i vii a] condit ions are 

 simply ca i point sutfnei nt to support the weight 



of the head with, bul with small ■ -i< n ; 



pun (21) of th ■' ize as 



that of I li w< ml at, ai I th a m al Bpii 

 excavat <l. thus exactly outlining tc u- the n< ds of the 

 i" n fighting animal In Nototherium mitchelli, all 

 structures in advance, and power 



for power's Ided. To show that this Latter 



i nt i- in t an onground d one it mu I mem- 



ber '1 that the - k u li of such an animal as Nototherium 

 tasmanicum \- as large and weighty as that of Nototherium 

 mitchelli, thus furnishing us with the ligamentous and 

 muscular ii .1- for its pos and support, and explaining 

 why tJ ■ skull charact Qg import exist in 



tin ~ k nl 1 of Nototherium mitchelli at all. When we come 

 to deal with the comparative skulls, w< shall have a 

 lot to say upon this matter, it being only necessary to 

 retain for the pr< s nt the following salient facts in the 

 foregr< and i f i or m mories: — 



1. The skulls of N. mitchelli and N. tasmanicum — at 

 least — (with a possibility of that of other species) 

 are equally large and weighty, yet their cervical 

 vertebras show marked differences. One being 

 an exaggeration of the standard of the modern 

 wombat in about the saint ratio of power (N. 

 tasmanicum), while the other -hows an addi- 

 tional power with interspinal^ muscles and pad- 

 dings, suitable to the resisting of great shocks in 

 the Ions: axis of the head and vertebra?. 



