847 



MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. „ 

 No. I.— HYAENA WITH DEFORMED FEET. 



I have been asked to describe the feet of a striped Hysena {Hymna striata) 

 which were sent to the Society's Museum by Mr. A. H. A. Simcox, I.C.S., 

 of Jalgaon, E. Khandesh. The animal was a full grown female and judging 

 from the fact that the ends of the bones were not united with the shafts, it 

 is evident that it was a young adult. The feet are deformed and present 

 a remarkable appearance. At first sight they gave rise to the notion that 

 the animal was suffering from some disease akin to leprosy, in which 

 there is atrophy of the fingers and toes. However this idea was seen 

 to be erroneous when it was found that the bones showed no signs of 

 disease. 



The outward appearance of the feet is shown in the diagrams. There 



Fore foot 

 3 pads. 



Hind foot 

 1 pad. 



Normal Abnormal 



phalanges of 



first row. 



are no toes and the claws cannot be seen superficially. The fore feet have 

 3 pads, the hind feet only one. When examined from the inside, it was 

 found that the claws were present but were buried deep within fissures of 

 the skin. The terminal and middle row of phalangeal bones were missing 

 from all four feet. This constituted the basis of the deformity. The first 

 or proximal row of phalangeal bones were present, but some of these bones 



