176 SKELETON OF THE CAMEL. 



and are expanded and obtuse above, sustaining tlie sub- 

 stance of the two humps of this species ; they afford, 

 however, no other indication of those risings, which are 

 as independent of the osseous system as is the dorsal fin 

 in the grampus or porpoise. The spines of the lumbar 

 vertebrae progressively decrease in length. The spine of 

 the scapula is produced into a short-pointed acromion: 

 the coracoid tubercle is large, and grooved below. The 

 ridge upon the outer condyle of the humerus is much less 

 marked than in the normal ruminants. The ulna has 

 coalesced more completely with the radius, and appears 

 to be represented only by its proximal and distal extre- 

 mities. The carpal bones have the same number and 

 arrangement as in ordinary ruminants, but the pisiforme 

 is proportionally larger. There is no trace of the digits 

 answering to the first, second, and fifth in the pentadactyle 

 foot: the metacarpals of those answering to the third and 

 fourth have coalesced to near their distal extremities, 

 which diverge more than in the ordinary ruminants, 

 giving a greater spread to the foot, which is supported by 

 the ordinary three phalanges of each of those digits. The 

 last phalanx deviates most from the form of that in the 

 ordinary ruminants by its smaller proportional size, 

 rougher surface, and less regular form: it supports, in 

 fact, a modified claw rather than a hoof. In the femur 

 the chief deviation from the ordinary ruminant type is 

 seen in the position of the orifice of the canal for the me- 

 dullary artery, which, as in the human skeleton, enters 

 the back part of the middle of the shaft, and inclines 

 obliquely upwards. The fibula is represented by the 

 irregularly-shaped ossicle interlocked between the outer 

 side of the distal end of the tibia and the calcaneum. The 

 scaphoid is not confluent with the cuboid as in the normal 



