THE BBADSHAW LECTURE 45 



the other toes. The race for length has but 

 recently been decided in favour of the great toe, 

 for old sculptures show the second and third toes 

 to be longer ; and the great toe has been handi- 

 capped by having only two phalanges instead of 

 three to grow from. Concurrently the carpal 

 bones became changed and enormously strength- 

 ened to bear weight, the heel being thrust back 

 and the metatarsal bones lengthened for better 

 leverage, but the four outer toes, no longer of 

 service in prehension and of little use as weight- 

 carriers, diminish relatively to the rest of the foot 

 and the little toe falls away relatively to the others. 

 Only the base of its metatarsal bone is retained 

 and specially developed for the attachment of two 

 of the peronei muscles which serve to help balance 

 the body on the foot. The fibula or ulna, pushed 

 aside by the radius or tibia and allowed no share 

 in weight carrying, is retained only for muscular 

 attachments and to prevent outward dislocation 

 at the ankle. With the growth of the heel and 

 the forward displacement of the weight-carrying 

 astragalus the leg becomes extended on the thigh 

 and the thigh on the pelvis. The head becomes 

 more evenly balanced on the top of the spine, and 

 the spine becomes more firmly fixed by its wedge 

 to the sides of the pelvis. The viscera grouped 



