Mr. J. Mien un the Meuisperuiact-ie.^ 97 



fifth, and the tsecond placing the thumb in the place of the fifth 

 toe, calculating that the animal most resembled Dasypus, which 

 has five toes on the hand, and not Praopus, which possesses only 

 four. But the construction of the armour, especially of its horny 

 covering, demonstrates that the Glyptodon was more similar in 

 its construction to Praopus than to Dasypus. 



The leg is very strong : undoubtedly the femur is the strongest 

 of all the bones of the skeleton. At its head there is no cavity 

 for the ligamentum teres, and from the outer side of the head arises 

 a very prominent trochanter major. We also sec a corresponding 

 prolongation on the outer side of the external inferior condyle. 



The tibia and the fibula are united into one bone largely per- 

 forated in the middle ; and the foot is very thick, high, and short, 

 with a calcaneum rather prominent posteriorly, which provet 

 that the animal was plantigrade, like the Armadillos. The bones 

 of the tarsus are complete ; but those of the fore part are very 

 short, like the metacarpals of the five toes. These have the 

 general configuration of those in unguiculated animals, as the 

 ungual bones are very broad and strong. 



We shall finally conclude this description with the notice of 

 the fact that in the hand as well as in the foot there are peculiar 

 bones, which are the sesamoid bones. There aire three similar 

 bones in the hand for the three toes next the thumb, which are 

 developed below the phalanges beyond the ungual bone. But 

 in the foot there are ten sesamoid bones, one in each toe, ex- 

 cepting the "hallux," and below the second anterior ungual 

 phalanx, and two on the inferior part of the metatarsal bones of 

 the three median digits. These last have a very peculiar form, 

 as they are divaricated, to permit the principal digital tendons 

 to pass through them. There is another bone of a ver}- peculiar 

 form in the centre uf the hand, to which the tendons of the toes 

 are attached. \ similar bone also exists in some existing Ar- 

 madillos, and is described by Cuvier in his work ' Recherchea sur 

 les Ossemens Fossilcs,' tom. v. p. 128, tab. 2. figs 12 & 13. 



X. — On the Menispermaceae. 

 By John Mikes, F.R.S., F.L.S. &c. 



[Continued from p. 53.] 



12. Odontocarya. 



This is the only South-American form, as Calycocarpum is the 

 sole North-American genus, of the Helerociiniea hitherto known, 

 all the other eleven genera of this tribe belonging to Asia or 

 Africa. The plant on which this genus was established was 

 found by me in the Organ Mountains as far back as 1828, and 

 Am. ^- May. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xiv. 7 



