﻿PELIS SPEL^EA. 23 



The distal or phalangeal articulation is, unfortunately, mutilated in all the specimens 

 of this bone that we have seen ; but it probably resembles that of the lion, excepting that 

 the lateral development of the internal process {g, fig. 3) appears to be much less in the 

 large cave form than in the recent. It probably, like that of the lion, had the outer surface 

 of the bulb much flatter and more deeply indented than in the other metatarsals. 



Metatarsal 3, fig. 3 ; and PL VIII. 



The shaft of this bone is cylindrical, slightly flattened on the front surface ; it is very 

 slightly bent backwards, and expands slightly laterally at the distal epiphysis. The proxi- 

 mal or ectocuneiform articulation is very flat (fig. 8, a, h), and inclined at an angle of about 

 60° to the axis of the bone downwards and inwardly, being at right angles to the front 

 surface. It is bounded anteriorly by the curved front edge of the bone, inwardly by a 

 waved line, posteriorly by a very small spur, rising from the surface (fig. 8, c), and exter- 

 nally by a waved line like the internal boundary, but set at a right angle to the front, 

 while the internal is at an acute angle with the same. The articulations for metatarsal 2 

 are the small polished heads of two small eminences, corresponding with the summit of 

 the internal waves above mentioned ; while those for metatarsal 4 are two larger oval sur- 

 faces, on the opposite side of the bone, the anterior lining the surface of a hollow facing 

 diagonally backwards and downwards, the anterior edge of which forms the boundary 

 of the front external expansion of the proximal extremity of the bone (fig. 3, 5, d), while 

 the posterior articulation is a flat surface, facing directly outwards and upwards. This, 

 with the posterior articulation for metatarsal 2, and the posterior portion of the proximal 

 articulation, are supported by a large process, the lower part of which gradually slopes 

 into the body of the bone. 



The bulb-shaped phalangeal or distal articulation is proportionally wider than that of 

 the recent lion, but is in other respects precisely similar. 



Metatarsal 4, fig. 4. 



This bone is somewhat more bent than metatarsal 3, and the section is somewhat more 

 angular, giving a square section just below the proximal epiphysis. It is rather more 

 bent backwards than metatarsal 3, and in the slightest degree outwards. The proximal 

 or cuboidal articulation (fig. 4, a) is rhomboidal and convex, both in transverse and 

 vertical directions, and is bounded posteriorly by a shallow groove and small spur. 



Of the internal articulations for metatarsal 3, the anterior (fig. 4, b) is a convex surface 

 passing into a concave towards the ridge which separates it from the cuboidal articulation ; 

 it rests posteriorly on a slight process, and faces inwards, upwards, and towards the 

 front. The posterior of these articulations (c) is slightly convex and oval in form, and faces 



