642 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol.. II., No. 41. 



The keel is very much produced forwards, 

 where, at its lower apex, it has a rough surface 

 of some extent, against which the united clavi- 

 cles abut. Sufficient material is not at hand 

 for me to say whether anchylosis ever takes 

 place at this point or not : it may do so, because 

 we find in Aluco these bones usuallj- unite at 

 this point ; but yet we come across specimens 

 of this owl where the union is no more perfect 

 than it is here. The hypocleidiam of the clavi- 

 cles, and the manubrium of the sternum, are 

 both about equally feebly developed. The 

 upper extremity of each clavicle has a very 

 broad abutment for the head of the correspond- 

 ing coracoid, to the inside of which expansion 

 these clavicular bones throw backwards a scap- 

 ular process ; but thej' fail to reach these ele- 

 ments of the shoulder-girdle, as we find them 



Fig. 3. — Knee-joint of Phalacrocoraxbicristatus; rigbt limb, 

 UfeBize. i?, femur; i?6, fibula; r, tibia; P, patella. 



in others of the class. All of the bones of the 

 pectoral extremity, or the arm, are completelj- 

 non-pneumatic, but otherwise well developed. 

 Faint papillae for the quill-knobs of the seconda- 

 ries are found along the entire length of the outer 

 aspect of the ulna. The mauus is composed of 

 the usual uumber of bones, — one phalanx for in- 

 dex digit, two for the next, and one for the last. 



In the lower extremity' we find a femur of 

 6^ centimetres in length; a tibia of IH; a 

 metatarsus of 6 ; and the outer toe with" five 

 joints, measuring in all 10.7 centimetres. This 

 limb is Hkewise non-pneumatic, in so far as its 

 osseous structure is concerned. The fibula is 

 carried unusually far down the side of its com- 

 panion bone, to within l.'i centimetres of the 

 lower periphery of the outer tibial condyle. 



The gi'eatest interest, so far as the bones of 



the leg of this cormorant are concerned, centres 

 about tiic knee-joint. Here we find a condi- 

 tion of alfairs which is presented in iti_v di'aw- 

 ing. The femur, which is much roughened 

 above for the attachment of muscles, articu- 

 lates about equally with the leg-bones. In 

 front of this joint is placed a veiy large and 

 massive patella, of a pyramidal form, articu- 

 lating with more than half its lower surface 

 with the anterior and lower fifth of the femur, 

 its inferior and anterior margin articulating 

 at the same time with the upper border of 

 the cnemial crest of the tibia. In front, we 

 find that the groove that exists between the 

 pro- and ecto-cnemial ridges of the tibia is pro- 

 duced on the entire anterior face of this 

 patella, and, no doubt, the muscles of the leg 

 are therein inserted, as in man^- divers. Such 

 examples as this throw some light on such 

 birds as Colymbus and Podiceps, where this 

 bone becomes anchylosed with the tibia in the 

 adult. I have not the skeleton of a loon at 

 hand, to examine the process spoken of by 

 Professor Owen (' Comp. anat. phys. vert.,' ii. 

 83), and followed by Dr. Coues in his oste- 

 ologj- of the same bird (' Mem. Bost. soc. nat. 

 hist.,' i. pt. ii.), as the analogue of the pa- 

 tella. The skeleton I have of Podiceps to ex- 

 amine does not show it ; but it is one that has 

 been in my collection for several years, and 

 maj- have been lost. Peuguins have a very 

 large patella, that articulates w-ith the tibia 

 much in the same manner as it does here in 

 Phalacrocorax. Professor Marsh describes a 

 veiy large, free patella for Ilesperornis regalis, 

 and remarks that it bears a general resem- 

 blance to that bone in Podiceps (' Odontor- 

 nithes,' p. 93). In examining this bone in the 

 young of our cormorant, it seems to ossifj' 

 from one centre. The ossification at the sum- 

 mit of the tarso-metatarsus includes the promi- 

 nent process at the upper and posterior aspect 

 of that bone. 



Many other points of interest are to be found 

 in the skeleton of the adult, as well as of the 

 young of Phalacrocora xbicristatus, which space 

 will not allow me to enter upon here : the lead- 

 ing points, however, I have endeavored to give, 

 and these are always valuable when we wish 

 to have them to compare with kindred forms. 



R. ^Y. SlIUFELDT. 



THE ELECTRIC LIGHT ON THE U- S. 

 FISH-COMMISSION STEAMER ALBA- 

 TROSS.— I. 



In pursuit of the hidden treasures of the 

 deep, the work of the Albatross keeps her at 

 sea many days at a time : and the operation 



