112 OSTEOLOGY OF THE DODO. [Parr II. 
which he had not observed elsewhere in similar sesamoid bones (Sehnenknochen):” the supposed anomaly, 
however, disappears on moistening the foot, and examining the glenoid ligaments by transmitted light. 
A similar fibro-cartilaginous thickening of a crescentic form, with the concavity directed forwards, exists in 
the dorsal fibrous capsule of the joint connecting the two first phalanges of the middle toe, the tendon of 
the Extensor communis digitorum gliding over it. 
The relative length of the toes, and of their individual segments, in the typical Gad/ine, are nearly as 
in the Dodo: the joints of each toe, exclusive of the ungual phalanges, decrease gradually in length distad ; 
except in the outer, in which the penultimate is equal to, or longer than the second, and the second and 
third are occasionally equal. Like the metatarsus, the phalanges are relatively more robust in the Dodo. 
From the shortness of the accessory metatarsal bone, the hind toe is not on the same plane as the heel, 
when the digits are expanded and the foot in contact with a flat surface; but in the abberrant Cracid@ and 
Megapodida, it is more depressed. 
In the Eagle, the hind toe is a little longer than the inner, and the latter is shorter but more robust 
than the outer, the middle being the longest, but slender when compared with the inner. In the hind toe, 
the ungual is equal to the proximal joint, which is stronger, broader, especially posteriorly, and longer in 
relation to the metatarsi than in the Dodo. The short, cuboidal proximal phalanx of the mner toe is only 
one third of the penultimate, and is sometimes anchylosed to it; the latter is nearly equal to the greatly 
developed ungual joint. The second joint of the middle digit is only one half of the length of the others, 
which are subequal; while in the outer, the penultimate is longer than the proximal, the intermediate 
joints are equal, and only half as long as the latter, the ungual phalanx being the longest. ‘Thus in the 
two inner toes the ante-penultimate segments are much abbreviated, and in the outer, the two distal seg- 
ments are relatively more elongated, but the three proximal, though shortened, have the same ratio to each 
other as in the Dodo, &c. The ungual phalanges progressively decrease in length and strength from within 
outwards, the hinder being the largest; the laterally compressed, subangular core is much curved and 
sharply uncinate; the vascular grooves in that of the Dodo are absent; the articular surface is more 
elongated and concave vertically, and the inferior tubercle is much larger. 
In the Vulture, the middle toe much exceeds in length the lateral digits, which are nearly equal, and 
the hallux is shorter than the inner toe. The phalanges of the hind toe are equal; but the proximal joint of 
the inner toe is relatively twice as long as in the Eagle, but still only half the length of the distal phalanges 
which are subequal; in the middle toe the joints decrease in length, progressively, to the ungual, which, 
however, is longer than the penultimate phalanx ; of the outer, the penultimate is shorter than the proximal 
phalanx, which is equal to the ungual; the second and third joints are also equal, and each only half 
as long as the penultimate. The Vulture thus exhibits a less raptorial foot than the Eagle. In Cathartes, 
the hallux is not half as long as the inner toe, which is shorter than the outer, and the middle digit 
is also much longer than the lateral toes ; but the phalanges of the hind toe are equal. In the inner digit, 
the penultimate phalanx is shorter than the others, which are nearly equal; the joints of the middle toe 
decrease progressively to the ungual phalanx, which is longer than the penultimate; in the outer, the proxi- 
mal is longer than the distal phalanx, the three intermediate being nearly equal, and about half as long as 
the first. The great strength of the claws is still remarkable in this modified raptorial sub-type. 
The evidence furnished by the toes, corroborates that derived from a consideration of the metatarsi, 
regarding the non-raptorial affinities of the Dodo, and its closer approximation to the Ga//ine, from 
which, however, it is equally distinct. 
