2 1 2 ELEMENTAR Y ANA TOMY. [LESS. 



digits, as in the Tapir ; and the former symmetry may prevail 

 where there are but three digits, as in the Peccary. 



20. The BONES OF THE TOES. These may be entirely 

 wanting for all that there are metatarsals, as perhaps in 

 Ophoides. The number of toes (digits) which may be de- 

 veloped has been indicated in treating of the metatarsus. 



Thus there may be but a single digit, as in the Horse, and 

 a single developed one, as in Chceropus. 



There may be but two, as in the Ox and Sheep, Ostrich 

 and Proteus; three, as in the Rhinoceros, Jerboa, and Rhea ; 

 four, as in the Hare, Dog, and most Birds. 



When one digit is wanting; it may be the fifth, as in Birds, 

 or the hallux, as in the Hare. 



The third and fourth digits may be the only functional ones, 

 as in the Ostrich ; but the third may abort, leaving only the 

 fourth, as in Choeropus ; or the fourth, leaving only the third, 

 as in the Horse. The fourth and fifth may be the only 

 functional ones, as in the Kangaroo. The first and fifth 

 may be much larger than the others, as in the Seals. 



The first (hallux) may be more or less opposable, as in 

 Monkeys, Lemurs, Opossums, and Phalangers. Other oppo- 

 sitions of the digits may exist, as already noticed in speaking 

 of the metatarsals. 



The digits may be excessively stunted, as in the Land 

 Tortoises, but they are never so enormously produced as are 

 the digits of the hands of Bats. They may, however, be 

 very much larger with relation to the tarsus than is the case 

 with man, as e.g. in the Orang. 



The bones of the toes in man equal in number those 

 developed in other Mammals, except in the Orang, where the 

 second phalanx of the hallux may abort altogether. 



In their distinctness these bones also agree with those of 

 most Mammals, but it is possible for the proximal row of 

 phalanges to become anchylosed to the metatarsals, as is 

 the case in the Three-toed Sloth. 



In that his phalanges decrease in length distad, man 

 follows the rule of his class generally. But the second 

 phalanges may be much larger than the proximal ones, as 

 in the Two-toed Sloth. 



The penultimate phalanx may be considerably larger than 

 the more proximal ones of the same digit, as in the fourth 

 toe of Birds, e.g. the Eagle. 



The number of phalanges may be different from that in 

 man. They may be much more numerous, as in the ex- 



