114 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



Foot of a Human Fetus. 



[Apr, 



By S. G. shanks, M. D., 

 albany, n. y. 



This section is shown, x8, in the photograph. The 

 drawing gives a side view of a foot, the dotted line indi- 

 cating the plane of the section. The fourth and fifth 

 metatarsal bones (M) are fairly split. The toes are ordi- 

 narily flexed or turned downward, but in this case they 

 were nearly straight, the cut passing out below the nails, 

 The oscalcis (C) or heel bone is prominently shown. In 



front of it is the cuboid, which does not appear in the 

 drawing, being behind the scaphoid (S), but it is seen in 

 the photograph in front of the calcis and in articulation 

 with the fourth and fifth metatarsal bones. The scaphoid 

 (S) being high in the instep escaped the knife. Of the 

 three cuneiform bones (N), only two are shown in the sec- 

 tion, one in articulation with the first metatarsal bone 

 (M), and a corner of the other facing the cuboid-metatar- 

 sal articulation. The nail on the small toe can be easily 

 located ; on the great toe the nail matrix is outlined by 



