AND AFFINITIES OF POTAMOGALE. 13 
occupied by a ligament admitting of considerable motion between the two bones at 
this spot. 
The femur is of the same length as the humerus, measured in each case from the 
upper surface of the head to the distal extremity of the bone; it has a prominent 
tubercle, with a rough surface, upon the middle of the outer side of the shaft. 
The tibia is 1,’ inch in length, measured from its upper to its lower articular 
surface. The tibia and fibula are confluent with one another for the lower third of 
their length. The tibia is curved, so as to present in its upper two-thirds an arch, 
convex forwards. ‘The fibula is a slender bone, forming the cord of the arch produced 
by the curvature of the proximal two-thirds of the tibia. 
The tarsus is composed of seven bones. he calcaneum is large, and projects for 
about one half its length behind the tibia. 
The metatarsal bone of the hallux is the shortest ; that of the outer toe is next in 
length; and the metatarsal bones of the three middle toes are the longest, and are 
nearly equal to one another. 
Anatomy of the Soft Parts. 
The imperfect state of preservation of the viscera, combined with the small amount 
of time which it was possible for me to spare from other avocations, has not allowed of 
more than a fragmentary description of the anatomy of the soft parts of the animal. 
The stomach and the whole of the organs of digestion between this and the vent, 
with the exception of about an inch of the terminal portion of the rectum, had been 
removed before the specimen was placed in my hands; so that certain important 
characters, such as that derived from the presence or absence of a cecum, could not 
be ascertained. he terminal portion of the canal, however, which escaped (fig. 9) 
presents several points of interest. The rectum, instead of opening directly on the 
surface of the body, opens into a sort of cloacal or postanal chamber, which also 
receives the orifices of the vagina and urethra, and those of the ducts of a pair of 
large anal glands. 
These glands are oval, about half an inch in their longer diameter. They are 
situated immediately beneath the skin, one on each side of the postanal chamber, 
into which each discharges its secretion by a single orifice. The excretory orifice of 
each gland opens into the bottom of a little pouch formed by a fold of the lining 
membrane of the postanal chamber at each side immediately within its margin. 
Just behind the line where the cavity of the rectum becomes continuous with the post- 
anal chamber, may be seen several very oblique pores in the mucous membrane of the 
chamber—apparently the outlets of small submucous glands. 
The uterus and its appendages and the urinary bladder were also left behind in the 
specimen; but the kidneys had been cut away with the other viscera. The fundus of 
