A CASE OF A SYNDACTYLOUS CAT 67 



Left fore foot. The bones of the first digit are normal through - 

 out (fig. 7). The other digits are modified as follows. The 

 diaphyses of the 2d and 3rd metacarpals are distinct, and there 

 is a bone which seems to have formed from the fused distal 

 epiphyses of these bones. The distal boundary of this fused 

 bone is partially obliterated in the skiograph. One bone rep- 

 resents the proximal phalanges of digits 2 and 3, and another, 

 partially fused with this, the medial phalanges. The skiograph 

 indicates a complete separation which is not found in the actual 

 bones. There is no movable joint between the metacarpals 



Fig. 2 Dorsal view of the hind feet of the abnormal cat. 



and! the proximal phalanx. Digits 4 and 5 indicate a similar 

 pairing. The diaphyses of metacarpals 4 and 5 are separate. 

 Metacarpal 5 has a distinct epiphysis. The epiphysis of meta- 

 carpal 4 has apparently fused with the bone which represents 

 the 4th and 5th proximal phalanges. The proximal epiphysis 

 of proximal phalanx 5 is distinct from the fused bone, although 

 this does not show clearly in the skiograph. The medial phal- 

 anges of digits 4 and 5 are represented by one bone. Here, 

 again, there is no movable joint between the metacarpals and 

 the proximal phalanx, nor between the proximal and medial 

 phalanges. There is but one distal phalanx, bearing one claw, 



