HUMINANTIA. 



521 



ated. This is especially the case in the 

 Giraffe, where the breadth increases towards 

 the posterior border, at which point it is 

 extremely thick. It is more or less curved 

 in the Camel and Giraffe, particularly in the 

 latter. We have observed in the skeleton of 

 an Arabian Camel, preserved in the Edinburgh 

 College of Surgeons' Museum, that the se- 

 cond borip of the sternum is of very great 

 bulk, while the first is small and flat ante- 

 riorly. 



The pelvic bones are broad and strong in 

 the Camels and bovine tribes, and compara- 

 tively slight in the Antelopes and Deer. In 

 the Giraffe and in the Camelidae the crest of 

 the ileum is rounded, the neck long, and the 

 upper surface of the bone concave. The 

 ileum is extremely prominent and large in the 

 Ox and Buffalo, and in respect of the neck, 

 acquires an almost vertical position ; the 

 prominence of the ischium is placed on a 

 higher level than the cotyloid cavity. In 

 ruminants generally, the posterior angle of 

 the ischium presents the appearance of a 

 tripod. The ischiatic notch is deep. In 

 (Egosceridae, Cervidae, and Antelopidae, there 

 is a depression immediately in front of the 

 cotyloid cavity for the insertion of the ten- 

 don of the straight muscle of the thigh. In 

 Moschus, according to M. F. Cuvier, the 

 sacro-ischiatic ligament and connecting apo- 

 neuroses ossify, in consequence of which 

 there is formed in this region a shield-like 

 osseous plate extending from the crest of the 

 ileum to the ischial tuberosity.* 



Bones of the anterior extremity. There 

 are no traces of a clavicle in this order. 

 The scapula is long, and has the form of an 

 isosceles triangle, the base of which is repre- 

 sented by the spinal border, and the apical 

 angle by the glenoid facet. In Camelidae the 

 spine of the bone is prolonged downwards 

 over the neck, forming, in this respect, an 

 approach to the pachydermatous type. The 

 acromion apophysis is likewise developed in 

 Bovidae; but it can scarcely be said to exist in 

 other ruminants. In every division of the 

 family we find the neck of the scapula much 

 elongated, and the extreme manifestation of 

 this peculiarity in the Giraffe, together with a 

 nearly vertical direction of the bone, pro- 

 duces the remarkable elevation of the shoulder, 

 characteristic of that animal. The coracoid 

 process exists only in a very rudimentary 

 condition, or is altogether absent. The rela- 

 tive disproportion between the supra and 

 infra-spinal spaces is very striking ; usually 

 the former consists only of a narrow plate of 

 bone, but its development in the Camel is 

 more cogent. In Bovidae the root of the 

 spine is blended and continuous at its acro- 

 mial end with the anterior scapular border. 



The humerus, according to its thickness 

 and bulk, affords a very fair criterion of the 

 comparative activity and strength of the 

 different species. In Camelidae and Bovidae 

 this bone is very massive, and the tuberosities 



* For details, see Art. "Pelvis." 



are of great size, the lesser prominence being 

 more elevated than the greater in the first of 

 these two tribes, and hollowed out in front 

 by a capacious channel. The linea aspera 

 stands out boldly, and the external and in- 

 ternal condyles are drawn back, as it were, 

 to deepen the olecranon cavity. The tro- 

 chlear grooves and ridges are also well 

 marked. The foramen for the passage of the 

 nutritious artery is generally situated at the 

 commencement of the lower third of the 

 bone ; but a slight variation is occasionally 

 observed. Thus, in regard to its position 

 in the Giraffe, Professor Owen states that the 

 "medullary artery enters the bone at its 

 inner side about the junction of the upper 

 and middle third," while it is added, that in 

 the skeleton preserved in the Museum of 

 Comparative Anatomy at Paris, the vessel 

 enters the left humerus at the point of union 

 of the middle and lower third.* We have 

 found a similar disposition to occur in our 

 example. The foramen enters at the posterior 

 and inner surface of the right humerus, and 

 is situated very near the centre of the shaft ; 

 but in the bone of the left side it is placed 

 further down, as in the Parisian specimen : 

 the opening is likewise rather smaller. 



The bones of the forearm (Jig. 346. , A. 2, 3) are 



Fig. 346. 



Bones of the fore and hind limbs of the Deer. (From 

 Lond. Coll. Surg. Museum.) 



* Memoir, foe. cit. 



