386 MERISTIC VARIATION. [part i. 



suiting structure with its hoof was like that of the Horse. The artic- 

 ulations were perfectly mobile. At the ruetacarpo-phalangeal joint 

 there were two sesamoids only. [With this division in the lateral 

 digits on fusion of III and IV compare Pig, No. 585.] 



Hind foot. The digits III and IV were united as in the fore feet, 

 but the single hoof was more pointed. The metatarsals II and V 

 were developed. The latter was 12-7 cm. long, and was united to the 

 large metatarsal above, but was free below, and was joined by a liga- 

 ment to its accessory hoof. That of II began in the middle of the 

 metatarsus, being cartilaginous and of about the thickness of a goose- 

 quill ; it was connected with the accessory hoof by a ligament only. 

 Kitt, Dent. Z. f Thierm., xil, 1886, Jahresb. 1884-85, p. 59, Case 

 No. I, Jin. 

 *580. Calf. Three of the feet had each one large digit (III and IV) 

 formed much as in the last case. But in the dried preparation it 

 could be seen that in each of these feet there were four accessory 

 hoofs, and connected with them several ossicles irregularly placed, re- 

 presenting phalanges 1 and 2 connected by ligaments with lateral 

 metacarpals. The fourth foot [which 1] had only three accessory hoofs, 

 but the phalanges 1 and 2 of the digits III and IV were partially 

 separated from each other, and there were two distal phalanges, 

 one for each digit ; but instead of being side by side, they were placed 

 one behind the other, both being encased in a single hoof. Kitt, I.e., 

 p. 61, Case No. II. 



581. Calf. A right fore foot having the two chief digits (III and IV) 

 represented by one digit with one hoof. The distal end of the common 

 metacarpal had two articular surfaces in close contact which bore a 

 digit in which there were only slight traces of duplicity. The meta- 

 carpal of the digit V was represented by two small bones, one beside 

 the upper and one beside the lower end of the large metacarpal. 

 These two ossicles were connected together by a ligament which is 

 prolonged downwards as far as the accessory hoof, and contains two 

 nodules of cartilage. On the median side of the foot there is no 

 rudiment of the metacarpal II, but the accessory hoof contains a 

 nucleus of partly ossified cartilage. Kitt, I.e., p. 63, Case IV. 



582. Calf having a single hoof on each fore foot. In external appearance, the hoof 

 was a single structure, but its anterior portion shewed two projections which sug- 

 gested that it was really a double structure. The outer accessory hoof was present 

 on the right foot in a very much reduced form, but the corresponding structure of 

 the inner side of the foot was entirely absent, and a marked ' turning-point ' in the 

 hairs (Haancirbel) indicated the place where it should normally have been de- 

 veloped. In the left foot the accessory hoofs were in the same condition as in the 

 right foot, but the ' turning-point ' was not formed at all. There were no skeletal 

 structures corresponding to the accessory hoofs. 



The skeleton of left fore foot was prepared. In it the metacarpal was 125 mm. 

 long, having a deep cleft on its anterior face, indicating the line of union of the two 

 metacarpals. The two articular heads, which in a normal animal of the same age 

 are separated from each other by about 5 mm., are in this specimen united by the 

 inner edges of their anterior borders. The proximal phalanges formed a single 

 bone, 32 mm. long. The division between the two bones was visible as a cleft on 

 the anterior surface, in which place the two ossifications were distinctly separated 

 from each other ; on the posterior surface the union between the two is continued 

 for half the length. The second phalanges formed a typically single bone, as did 

 also the distal phalanges which bore the hoof. The foramina for the two nutrient 

 arteries of the two toes remained double and entered the single bone, one on each 



