﻿124 



DR. J. MURIE ON THE THREE-BANDED ARMADILLo". 



ThP CoUe-o-of-Surgeons skeleton, however, differs from the present specimeB m tie 



possession'of four digits to the fore foot, which appeai-s to be the normal number in the 



ffenus 







phys 



* 



Unlike tlie distal ends of tlie tibia and fibula, wbicb are soldered together into 

 bony piece the inferior extremities of the radius and ulna possess each a separate epi- 



These latter approach and adhere by a thin fibro-cartilaginous film. The 

 inferior articular fades of the radius is triangular, slightly concave, and with a descend- 

 inn- tubercle or styloid process. The radius glides upon the scaphoid and semilunar 

 bones. The ulnar end is oblong, transversely subcompressed ; and its depending semi- 

 lunar' articular facet plays in the cuneiform and pisiform trough. 



The proportionally large pisiform is applied against the cuneiform, so as to exclude 

 the latter from the pahn. Trapezium, trapezoides, and os magnum are coalescent. 

 What appears to represent the first two on the dorsum articulates with the scaphoid, 

 indicial metacarpal, and, partiaUy, a corner of the mesial metacarpal. The magnum, 

 anchylosed with the last, chiefly abuts against semilunar and unciform, though a small 

 facet is in contact with the scaphoid. The unciform grasps the outer knuckle of the mid 

 metacarpal, and presents a narrow facet towards the proximal metacarpal of the outer 

 (4th) digit. ^Posteriorly it is in contact with the cuneiform, and, by an angle, touches 

 the semilunar. To its outer margin a longish sesamoid is affixed. On the palmar aspect 



the 08 magnum is marked by the more prominent backward extension of the mid 



metacarpal. 



Comparing the foregoing annotation on the manus of the 3-toed animal with Owen's 



4-toed specimen {mfra^, the differences consist only in greater anchylosis of inner meta- 



carpnls, magnum, and trapezio-trapezoid, with entire absence of the 5th digit. 



It is in a great measure owing to this soldering of the main carpo-metacarpals, thereby 

 producing rigidity, and to the enormous development of palmar sesamoid bone actmg as 

 support, brace, or fulcrum to the well-knit muscles and broad tendons of the palm, that 

 tlie animal is empowered to tread upon the very tips of its fore claws. 



The powerful femur, contrasted with humerus, is noteworthy, though the character is 



tk 



foot ; a second sesamoid is attached by ligament to the apex of the large palmar one " (2304). '* The scaphoid is 

 Bmallcdt of the four hones of the proximal row. The large pisiform articulates to the posterior interspace between 

 tho lunaro and cuneiform, and forms, with the lunare, a large articular cavity, upon which the palmar patella plays. 

 There is no distinct trapezium ; if its homologue exist in rudiment, it is connate with the trapezoides. The magnuni 

 has coalesced with part of the base of the great cubical metacarpal of the digitus medius. The outer part of the base 

 of that metacarpal rests upon the unciforme, which also supports the small, but thick, cubical metacarpus of the 



of the metacarpal of the minimus. The medius and annularis have each but two pna- 



annuliin?, and the rudiment 



number 

 Hind Leg. 



cj-c— «' The shaft is bent inwards above the base of the third trochanter. There is a small ossification at the 



epiphysis " (2313). 

 i'M— "The Bcai 



iartilag 



the 



^ ^ ^„^ ^^^ ^„y Auieiiur Luoerosiues, xne inierspace oetweeu wui'^" --- 



undorpart of the entocuneiform bono. The metatarsals and the phalanges of the middle digits are preserved, ^th 



ungual 



