174 CHARACTERS OF nERBIVOROUS QUADRUPEDS. 



that answer to the middle and ring-fingers of the human 

 hand. 



The pelvis, of which the sacral, S, iliac, 62, and ischial, 

 64, elements are show^n in Cut 31, is small in proportipn 

 to the animal's bulk. The femur, Q5j is short like the 

 humerus, and chiefly remarkable for the great expanse of 

 this distal end. The tibia, idi)^ forms the main basis of the 

 leg, as its homotype the radius docs in the forearm, but 

 the fibula is more reduced than in the ulna; rarely in any 

 ruminant is more of it visible than its distal end, 67, 

 wedged in between the tibia and the calcaneum. The 

 series of tarsal bones, 68, is peculiar in all ruminants for 

 a coalescence of the two bones answering to the " scaphoid 

 and cuboid" in the human tarsus. In all ruminants the 

 astragalus is unusually symmetrical in shape, with a deep 

 trochlear articular surface for the tibia, and tw^o equal 

 convex surfaces for succeeding tarsal bones; the calca- 

 neum is produced into a long " hock." The rest of the 

 bones of the hind-foot conform closely with those of the 

 fore-foot. 



A few remarks, although interesting chiefly to the pro- 

 fessed anatomist, appear called for in reference to the bony 

 structure of the head of the giraffe. 



The exoccipitals form a marked protuberance above 

 the foramen magnum, and below a deep fossa, for the im- 

 plantation of the ligamentum nucha3 — the length of the 

 dorsal spines being related, in all ruminants, to a due 

 surface for the attachment of this strong elastic support 

 of the head and neck. The parietals are chiefly situated 

 on the upper surface of the skull ; the osseous horn-cores, 

 which are originally distinct, become anchylosed in old 

 giraffes, across the coronal suture, equally to the parietals 

 and frontals : if one of these be divided longitudinally, it 



