TAP 



48 



T A P 



hlade-bone, says 1'nvicr, emphatically, and not more em- 

 phatically than truly, cannot be confounded with that of 

 nnv other animal. 



The head of the humenis is powerful, behind the axis 

 of the bone. Its larrre tuberosity is bilobated by a rounded 

 notch : it-* bu-ipita) ranal is simple and not wide: the 

 ndge is little marked ; the comlvlcs do not project much. 

 The radial articular face is divided bv a projecting nb 



into an entire pulley on the internal side, and the half of. the radius. 



one on the external side ; both the one and the other cor- 

 respond to projections of the radius. MI that this hi.-t has 

 no rotation. It is even ]irobablc. ol nicr, that 



with nirc it isanchyloBedtothulna,wl -throuirh- 



ont its length OH the external edge of the anil. The upper 

 head of the radius is nearly rcctantrular : ils bodv , rounded 

 in front, is flattened behind. The body of the ulna is 

 triangular. One of its crests follows the external crest of 



ot American Tapir. 



The carpus of the Tapir bears a near resemblance to 

 that of the RHINOC KROS, especially in having, like it, a 

 sinjfle small bone articulated with the wcdire-shaped and 

 unciform bones, in lieu of the trapezoid and thumb : but 

 this bone is articulated with the metatarsal bone of the 

 index, which is not the case in the rhinoceros. The other 

 bones of the. wrist are nearly of the .-aiue form, excepting 

 that their width is less in proportion to their heisrht. a 

 condition which is true even with regard to the unciform 

 hone, although it has to cam' two complete metacarpals, 

 whilst in the rhinoceros it only carries one and the vcstiirc 

 of another. The pisiform bone is also longer in propor- 

 tion in the Tapir. The metacarpal of the middle tinker 

 is longest and straiirhtest : those of the index and rinsr- 

 ti nirer are curved nearly symmetrically one with reference 

 to the other, as in the rhinoceros. But the Tapir has 

 also one small, short, and rather irregular metacarpal. 

 The three first iinirers are those which touch the earth. 

 and their unirual phalanires resemble those of the rliino- 

 : the little iinircr does not touch the ground. The 

 lirsl phalanges are lomrer than they arc wide, but the con- 

 trary is the case with regard to the second. 



The widened part of the ossa ilii is very broad trans- 



'v. and a little concave outwards. The external 



.I' this hone is larger than the internal one; the an- 



liorder is liirgely concave, and the two spines are. as 



it were, truncated: its neck is narrow, with reference to 



its lenjfth ; theo\al holes are lonircr than they are wide. 



and the posterior extremity of the ischinm terminate- in a 



point very distant from it's correspondent. The anterior 



passage of the pelvis is as long as it is wide, and nearly 



circular. 



The femur has its great trochanter pointed, forming n 

 projection backwards, and (riving off a rib which descends 

 along the external bonier. Besides the two ordinary 

 niters, there is a third, which i- flattened and re- 

 curved in front. In these points its resemblance to that. 



of the none is perceptible, mil it differs much in having 

 the two borders of the rotular pulley neaily cmial. The 

 fibula is curved outwards, which scp;:: .'.- it a little fiom 

 the tibia : tliis last has its upper head rather marked, but 

 the tiiberosity which terminates this end above is obtuse 

 ami curved but little. Its lower head is wider than it is 

 long, is oblique, and its antero-posterior diameter on the 



internal side is wider, and this bonier more projecting than 

 that of the tilmlar side. 



The tarsus of the Tapir is still better modelled than its 

 carpus alter that of the rhinoceros, of which it seems to 

 be only a repetition : only the os calcis is much more 

 elongated and more compressed; but its facets are the' 

 same. The neck of 1 hi' astiairalns is lonircr and touches 

 the cuboid bone by a narrower facet. There is no Vi 

 of a hind toe, but the little finger is represented In an 

 elongated bone, bent at the end. articulated to the -ea- 

 phoid. to the small cuneiform and the external metatarsal 

 bones. The posterior tubercle of the cuboid hone is less 

 projecting and less honked than in the rhinoceros. O\v- 



Illl-llx /'''/'W'/C.V. 



Cuvier, in hi- ical comparison of the Indian 



Tapir with the American form, observes that a irlance at 

 the profile of their respective crania is sufficient to impres-. 

 upon the observer their specific ditt'ercnces. The forehead 

 of the Indian Tapir i-. he n!>-.<; , es. so convex, that : 

 higher than the occiput : it elevates in its iise (he nasal 

 hones, which much prolongs the ascending part of the 

 ml the descending portion of the fiontal bones alouir 

 the external aperture of the bony nostril-, thus srivinir 

 much wider room lor the comparatively larire pro!" 

 and adding Icnirth to the furrows where the muscles are 

 inserted. This organization, he observes, explains why 

 the Indian Tapir has a more powerful and extensible trunk 

 than that of America. There is even, he adds, in the In- 

 dian species, on the base of the nasal bones at their junc- 

 tion with the frontal hones, and on each side, a deep 

 which does not exist in the other species. This elevation 

 of the forehead is accompanied by a depression of the 

 occipital cre.-t. which, far from forming a pyramid, as in 

 the American species, lather descends backwards. The 

 aperture of the bony : enlarged by ihe prolonga- 



tion of the maxillary bones, terminates below and forwards 

 bvmore elevated inicrmaxillancs. which are for the rest an- 

 clnloscd together in early youth as in the American Tapir. 



The interval between the canine and the fust molar is 

 less in proportion in the Indian Tapir, whoso dentition is 

 otherwise the same with that of the Ann-Mean species. 



I hi /v _ ..main apophysis of the Indian species is a little 

 higher backwaid and less forward : its mastoid apophysis 

 is more t universally turned. 



