266 



VERTEBRATA 



digit, so that the wrist and ankle, often wrongly called 

 the knee, are more than a foot above the ground, while 

 the real knee is close up to the body. Animals walking 

 on the ends of their toes are said to be digitigrade, in 



PlG. 302. -~ Skeleton of the horse, a, rudiment of the fourth digit (splint bone) 

 about half as long as the third ; rf, second digit ; e, ankle ; w t wrist ; n, knee ; 

 m, femur ; /, forearm with large radius and rudimentary ulna ; h, humerus. 



distinction to those walking on the flat of the foot, called 

 plantigrade. 



The cattle family (Bovidce] includes the goats, sheep, and 

 cows, among the most celebrated of which are the American 

 bison (buffalo) now nearly extinct, and the Rocky Moun- 

 tain goat able to walk on almost perpendicular cliffs. 



