THE OSTEOLOGY OF VULPES MACROTIS. . 411 



the outer one on the radial side is the trapezium, the next, the trapezoid, and the 

 one next to the unciform, the os magnum. 



Agreeing in the main with the vulpine Canidse generally, the joints of the 

 metacarpus present nothing of special note. As in the majority, if not in all true 

 canines, the pollex metacarpal is much reduced in size, short and straight. Proxi- 

 mally, its end is somewhat enlarged, but in its extreme length this bone is not over 

 1.3 cms. in length. Its single phalanx and ungual joint are likewise greatly 

 reduced, and it is more than probable that it plays but a feeble part in the 

 locomotory functions of the fore-foot or paw, as it is doubtful that it reaches the 

 ground in running, walking, or standing. The remaining four metacarpals are 

 straight, stout and strong. At their distal ends each and all present the usual 

 trochlear joints for the proximal articular extremities of the first row of pha- 

 langes. Their upper ends are much compressed from side to side, and they fit so 

 firmly against each other, that they are capable of scarcely any motion at all. 

 Second and fifth metacarpals are about of a length, each being about 2.8 centi- 

 metres long, and the last named is the stouter bone of the two. Third metacarpal 

 has a length of about 3.2 cms, and the fourth is very slightly shorter. These bones 

 appear almost alike and both are slenderer than the fifth metacarpal. 



Free sesamoids do not appear to exist in any of tendons in the sole of the 

 fore-foot of this little fox. Digits II- V each possesses two phalanges and a terminal 

 ungual joint. The upper row of the former is composed of stout, short, straight 

 bones, each presenting the usual articular ends as seen among the Canidae generally. 

 The phalanges to the second and fifth digits are shorter and stouter than those to the 

 third and fourth — the first averaging 1.3 cms in length, and the latter 1.7 cms. 

 (II- V being nearly of a length, as are III and IV.) The distal row of phalanges 

 is proportionately shorter and slenderer than the proximal row, but their general 

 comparisons are about the same. Finally, the terminal row or ungual joints are 

 each armed with a strong compressed osseous claw, which latter is curved and 

 pointed. They have the thin basal lamina spoken of by Flower, but not as 

 strongly developed as we find them in the Felidse. A minute tubular canal longi- 

 tudinally pierces the core of each one of the bony claws of the fore-foot, apparently 

 for the passage of the vessels to its apex, where it opens, for the horny sheath 

 covering it during life. As in other small Canidae, the middle digit is rather 

 longer than any of the others, the second and fourth being somewhat shorter than 

 it, fifth still shorter, and pollex, as already stated, shorter than any of them by far. 

 Indeed, the entire length of this digit is not sufficient to carry the apex of its 

 ungual joint past the distal end of the second metacarpal bone alongside of it. 



The Pelvic Girdle and the Skeleton of the Hinder Limb. 



Sir Richard Owen, in his Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of the Verte- 

 brata does not give us a dozen lines upon the pelvis in the carnivora ; and Flower 

 in the last edition of the Osteology of the Mammalia hardly does more, and neither 

 of these distinguished authorities refer to the pelvis of the genus Vulpes. On speak- 



