59 
of which he takes to be equivalent to the origin of the flexor sublimis ; 
but this is independent of the muscle he describes, as above quoted, 
and is, in fact, plainly identical with Windle’s condylar portions. 
MacCormick’s fourth division of the deep flexor is evidently a typical 
centralis element. 
Palmaris longus is well developed in Dasyurus. An essentially 
similar condition obtains in Phuscolarctos,* Chironectes,t and Myr- 
mecobius. t 
In Cuscus$ Cunningham found the flexor sublimis arising by four 
minute fleshy slips from the surface of the deep flexor mass, but he 
regarded as the real equivalent of the origin of the flexor sublimis 
what Windle has since taught us to regard as condylo-ulnaris and 
-radialis portions of the deep flexor. Practically the same arrangement 
was found in Thylacinus and Phascogale.§ So also in Phascolomys and 
Sarcophilus,|| according to Macalister, who also accepts the condylar 
origin as a sublimis, inseparable from profundus, and explains the 
arrangement as practically a digastric condition of the sublimis. 
I find no case recorded in the literature of marsupial myology in 
which the flexor sublimis or palmaris longus are entirely absent. 
Westling§ and Leche{ both state (authority not given) that in 
Macropus (as in Echidna) no distinct flexor sublimis is present, but 
Macalister states|| that in the Wallaby the sublimis “ arises from the 
inner condyle inseparably united to the profundus; but from the 
tendon of the common flexor above the wrist the fleshy fibres of the 
sublimis arise and form a lower belly, which sends tendons to all the 
fingers but the first.” Hence the condition in certain species of 
Macropus, at least, is similar to the ordinary marsupial one. 
Flexor digitorum gives tendons to all five digits in marsupials 
generally. Flexor sublimis usually goes to the four ulnar digits, but 
in Vyrmecobiust and Chironectest the tendon for the fifth digit is 
lacking. 
I find no record of the existence in any other marsupial of a palmar 
sesamoid, such as is found in Notoryctes. The nearest approach to 
such a condition is recorded by MacCormick in Dasywrus. In that 
animal there is just above the wrist “an exceedingly strong tendinous 
mass, which, on its deep surface, is covered by a pad of fibro-cartilage, 
292k 
In Echidna there is a single large flexor mass, a small partially 
separable superficial portion of which Mivart surmised might represent 
the palmaris longus. He also took the condylar part uf the mass to 
represent the flexor sublimis element.j+ Westling{{ does not refer to 
any subdivision of the mass. 
At the wrist an exceedingly strong tendon is developed, and in this 
1s a sesamoid bone (one or two, Mivart). Below this the tendon splits 
into five tendons inserted into the terminal phalanges by each of the 
digits. 
In Ornithorhynchus, too, there is only oue flexor mass in the fore- 
arm, with a similar arrangement as regards the digits. Coues found 
* Ixxii., page 231. tliii., page 9. }xxvi., page 823. $iv., page 18. 
|| xxix., page 163. {] lxii., page 24. ** xxxvi., page 132. fT xxxix., page 
388. tf lxii., page 23. 
