352 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 52 



On pages 403-407 are given a number of very detailed supple- 

 mentary notes on the bone, for which the reader is referred to the 

 original, and on page 408 is given a table of measurements of the 

 bone with comparative data on the 16 Indian atlases and the one 

 atlas each of an orang and a gorilla, with which it was contrasted. 



THE REPORTED FEATURES OF THE MONTE HERMOSO FEMUR 



The first and so far the only report on this specimen is by F. 

 Ameghino.^ 



As mentioned before, the history of the find is restricted to the 

 statement that ''this bone was encountered by Carlos Ameghino in 

 his last voyage to Monte Hermoso." 



The bone is that of the left side and its upper end is missing. The 

 existing part, according to Ameghino, ''measures 16 cm. in length 

 but the entire bone must have measured about 19 cm. . . . 



''The agreement in conformation between this bone and the cor- 

 responding one of man, is nearly perfect, although this great similarity 

 does not become at once perceptible because of the enormous differ- 

 ences in size. 



"The similarity of the specimen to the human femur appears 

 evident in 'the different curves of the bone, in the femoral torsion, in 

 the development of the linea aspera and its inferior bifurcation, in 

 the subtriangular outline in section of the median part of the body 

 of the bone, in the broadening and the anterio-posterior flattening 

 of its inferior extremity, in the inversion inward of the internal 

 condyle and the larger size of the same, etc." 



It would be difficult to give a correct abstract of all the mor- 

 phologic and comparative details given by Ameghino in his descrip- 

 tion of the bone and therefore for the less essential data the reader 

 must be referred to the original. The principal items accentuated 

 are as follows: 



It is assumed that the head and neck of the bone were disposed 

 as in man, and that the latter formed a similarly obtuse angle with 

 the body of the bone. 



The great trochanter was not of the quadrate form, as in Homo, 

 but more like that of Homunculus. 



The trochanteric fossa (which receives relatively little attention) 

 "presents the same vascular perforations as in the human femur, and 

 as in this is prolonged backward in the form of a canal or groove, 

 which is quite extended and has a concave base in the transverse 

 direction." 



The minor trochanter is of large size, as in man, but shows a dif- 

 ferent form and is located on the internal border of the bone. "In 



1 Notas preliminares sobre el Tetraprothomo argentinus un precursor del hombre del mioeeno superior 

 de Monte Hermoso; in Anal. Mm. Nac. Buenos Aires, xvi (ser. iii, t. ix), 1908, pp. 108 et seq. 



