1206 



MR. B. I. POCOCK ON THE EXTERNAL CHARACTERS 



the immense length of the digits, especially of the first and fifth, 

 which, relatively to the other digits, are much longer than in the 

 Squirrels, and give a wide span to the foot. The third and 

 fourth digits are subequal, the fifth is not very much shorter 

 than the fourth and is about equal to the second, and the 

 elongated hallux extends beyond the middle of the second. They 

 are all connected by wide webbing, which extends to the apex of 



Text-figure 58. 



A. Right fore foot of Castor fiber. X J. 



B. „ hind „ „ „ 



C. Apex of second and third digits of the same, showing the sup- 



plementary claw (s) beneath the main claw on the second. 



the digital pads or nearly so. These pads are represented by 

 areas of granular skin, and on the first and second digits they 

 form movable lobes, whereas on the third, fourth, and fifth they 

 are less prominent and not separately movable. A well-known 

 peculiarii.y is the presence of a secondary " false claw" beneath 

 the normal claw of the second digit, constituting with it a fur- 



