878 THE MUSCLES. 



2. The short flexor of ihe great toe, which arises from the third cuneiform and the tendon ot 

 the posterior tibial, and terminates by two branches on the external sesamoid and the internal 

 sesamoid of the great toe. 



3. The short adductor of the great toe, a muscle formed by two fasciculi, and having a. 

 common termination on the external sesamoid. One of these fasciculi arises from the inferior- 

 face of the cuboides, the third cuneiform, and the base of the third and fourth metatarsal ; it 

 has been formerly described as the oblique adductor. The other has its origin from the 

 inferior face of the three last metatarso-phalangeal articulations : this has also been called 

 the transverse adductor. 



The external plantar region likewise comprises three muscles, which are — 



1. The short abductor of the little toe, which is detached from the internal tuberosity of the 

 OS calcis, and is inserted into the external portion of the first phalanx of the little toe. 



2. The short flexor of the little toe is attached, behind, to the sheath of the long peroneus 

 and to tlie process of the fifth metatarsal ; in front, to the external part of the first phalanx of 

 the little toe. 



3. The opponens of the little toe, concealed beneath the preceding, is inserted at one end to 

 the sheath of the long peroneus, and at the other to the external border of the fifth metatarsal. 



3. Interosseous Muscles. 



These are divided into dorsal and plantar interossei. Their disposition is nearly the same 

 as in the band. 



CHAPTER III. 

 THE MUSCLES IN BIRDS. 



In Birds, we find the majority of the muscles already described ; though they 

 are appropriate by their form, volume, arrangement, etc., to the particular 

 conformation of the skeleton in these animals. 



To undertake, in this essentially practical work, a special description of all 

 these muscles, would be to depart from the object aimed at ; and we therefore 

 confine ourselves to those points which present most interest, so far as animal 

 mechanics is concerned. 



1. Tendons. — The tendons in birds present in the inferior limbs and at the 

 extremity of the wings an amount of ossification more or less extensive along- 

 their course. This transformation of the fibrous tissue of the muscles is not the 

 effect of senility, for it is noticed in very young animals. 



The tendons, in losing the greater part of their elasticity, doubtless gain in 

 tenacity ; and this allows them to transmit to the bony levers the muscular 

 efforts in a more integral manner. 



It is also observed that the partial ossification of the tendons does not 

 exclusively belong to the limbs ; for it is not rare to meet with this change m 

 other regions, as in the neck of wading birds. In the museum of the Vetermary 

 School at Lyons is the skeleton of a heron which shows this peculiarity in the 

 highest degree ; the cervical vertebrae are roughened by a multitude of filiform, 

 bony stylets, all directed backwards, and which have originated from the oesifi- 

 cation of the tendinous fibrillae annexed to the muscles of the cervical region. 



2. The Pectoral Muscles. — The two alternative movements which produce 

 flight — the elevation and depression of the wings — being due to the action of 

 the pectoral muscles, these merit special notice. 



The superficial or great pectoral, " which alone weighs heavier than all the 



