OSTEOLOGY. 4] 
The metacarpals and phalanges are large and strong and in relative length 
would be arranged in the order 3, 4, 2,5, 1. The middle three digits are sub- 
equal, and have each three phalanges. The first and fifth digits are conspicu- 
ously shorter; the former has but two phalanges, but the latter has three. 
The claws are shorter in S. paradoxus than in S. cubanus. A pair of small 
sesamoids is present ventrally at the proximal end of the first phalanx of each 
digit. These as usual, form a groove for the great flexor tendon. A single 
median sesamoid is also present at the ventral articulation of the two terminal 
phalanges of each digit. In the pollex, however, it is very small. 
The femur (Plate 8, figs. 12, 13) is much like that of Gymnura in shape but 
has a shorter shaft. Indeed, the shortness of the femur is remarkable. The 
lesser trochanter is about as well developed as the greater. A deep fossa occurs 
on the posterior side of the latter and is continuous with the broad intertrochan- 
teric depression. A conspicuous sesamoid is present on the ectal side, at the 
posterior curve of the distal condyle; it lies in the ectal tendon of the gastro- 
cnemius. The large, subquadrate patella measures 7.5 mm. in length. The 
greatest length from the proximal to the distal condyle of the femur is 47.5 mm. 
Dobson states that in Solenodon cubanus the tibia and fibula are distinct, 
as in Centetes, Ericulus, Hemicentetes, and Tupaia although so closely approxi- 
mated in the distal third that they might ankylose in aged individuals. Peters’s 
figure also shows the two bones distinct in this species. In the adult S. para- 
doxus, however, the two are united distally for 18 mm., or about one third their 
length. The line of fusion is discernible, nevertheless, and a deep groove is 
formed between them, for the peroneus tendons. This point appears to be one of 
some importance, for all previous writers have emphasized the separation of 
tibia and fibula in Solenodon as a character possessed in common with Centetes, 
but not found elsewhere in the related families. It is not clear that the condi- 
tion as thus described for S. cubanus is due to immaturity or individual variation, 
but. certainly in adult S. paradoxus, the tibia and fibula are distally ankylosed 
as in Potamogale, except that in the latter the line of union is said to become 
quite obliterated with age. It should be mentioned, however, that in the 
skeleton of a young S. paradoxus examined, the tibia and fibula, though closely 
approximated distally are apparently separate, and in the skeletons of two 
fully grown though not old animals, these bones are but imperfectly fused along 
the line of contact. The antero-internal face of the tibia is rather flat proximally, 
but the crest at the ectal border of this flattened area is scarcely developed, in 
contrast with the condition in Gymnura in which a prominent crest projects 
