tA 



LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY. 



which in this group it will be convenient to designate as the 

 arm, and its extremities as fingers, it will be seen from the 

 accompanying figure of the skeleton of the same that all the 

 bones are characterised by their slenderness and elongation. 

 The first finger, or thumb, remains, however, comparatively 

 short, and is furnished with a well-developed claw; but the 

 remaining four fingers are greatly elongated, so that the third, 

 fourth, and fifth, which are devoid of any trace of a claw, are 



Skeleton oi the Right Fore-limb ot a Bat. /i, bone of upper arm, or 

 humerus ; r.u. , bones of the fore-arm, or radius and ulna ; fx., thumb ; ///, , 

 claw of same ; mc, metacarpus ; J>/i. ph'., bones of second and fifth fingers. 



absolutely longer than the fore-arm ; the elongation attaining 

 its maximum in the third, or middle, finger. Between these 

 long spider-like fingers the wing-membrane is tightly stretched 

 when the limb is expanded ; while when at rest the whole 

 structure can be compacUy folded along the sides of the body. 

 Apart from the total absence of feathers, those who have even 

 the most elementary acquaintance with ana'iomy will not fail 



