THE SKELETON OF THE FORE-LIMB 27 



intervention of the triangular fibro-cartilage. This con- 

 dition is not found in any of the more primitive forms and 

 must be regarded as a new and possibly progressive 

 feature. 



It is a fact which cannot be ignored, that in the details 

 of its skeletal elements the fore-limb of the highest of 



FIG. 8. THE ELEMENTS OF THE CARPUS AS PRESENT IN MAN, 

 IN THE GORILLA, CHIMPANZEE AND SOME LEMURS. 



The os centrale is not normally present as a separate element. 



the Mammals finds its likeness among living Vertebrates 

 in such a primitive creature as the Tortoise. Without 

 indulging to the full the speculations which such a fact 

 may prompt, we are justified in saying that the Primates 

 have retained a fore-limb skeleton that is singularly like 

 that with which we have every reason to believe the 

 ancestral Mammal was endowed. 



