430 PRINCIPAL SIR WM. TURNER ON 



Manouvrier subsequently recognised the condition, and from the flattened form of the 



shaft named it platymery.* Associated with this character a prominent infratrochanteric 



ridge extended from below the great trochanter for from two to three inches vertically 



downwards and formed an external border for the upper third of the shaft : it was in 



front of and parallel to the gluteal ridge, from which it was separated by a narrow groove. 



To enable a comparison to be drawn of the degree of expansion and flattening in 



different femora, Manouvrier computed an index of platymery by the formula 



antero-post diam. x 100. T ,, n , . i i , .r j- , j • r 



— *- T . In the lasmaman skeletons the diameters and indices were 



transverse diam. 



Trans, diam. Ant. post. diam. Index. 

 Right femur . . 30 mm. 22 mm. 73*3 



Left „ . 30 „ 23 „ 76-6 



Manouvrier gave the platymeric index, in Parisian femora, as ranging from 80 to 100, 

 whilst in some neolithic femora the range was from 5 6 '4 to 65*8, and in Guanche 

 femora from the Canary Islands from 58 '8 to 64 - 9. In the two femora from the Oban 

 bone cave the indices were 5 6 '4 and 58*8. In the measurements of fifty Maori femora 

 by Professor J. H. Soott of Dunedin, the index ranged from 54*8 to 8T3, with the 

 mean 64'3.t In the Australian femora which I have examined, whilst the pilastric 

 index ranged from 120 to 132 and the linea aspera was strong, in some specimens the 

 upper fourth of the femoral shaft did not exhibit a marked degree of flattening, though 

 Ramsay Smith found this condition in several aboriginal femora from the Coorong, and 

 he gave 70*9 and 72*9 as the platymeric indices in two skeletons. J As far as can be 

 judged from the single Tasmanian skeleton now before me, the index, whilst below the 

 European, was higher than in neolithic and in the Maori femora. 



The trochlear patellar surface was higher and broader on the outer than on the 

 inner side ; it was also deep, so as to accommodate the prominent vertical ridge of 

 the patella in flexion and extension. The inner condyl was convex, more 

 projecting, and somewhat narrower than the outer ; a definite facet for articula- 

 tion with the patella during complete flexion of the knee was distinct at the 

 margin of the intercondylar notch. Each condyl had a sharp outline behind and 

 was not prolonged upwards on to the popliteal surface of the bone. It did not 

 present an extension of the articular surface similar to the one described by 

 Sir Havelock Charles above the inner condyl in the natives of the Punjab, which 

 he ascribed § to pressure by the tibia due to the great flexion of the knee in the 

 squatting attitude assumed by these people when resting. 



* Manouvrier, Gongres internat. d! Anthropol. et d'Arche'ol., 1889, 1891 ; and Etude sur les variations du Femur, 

 Paris, 1893. 



t Transactions New Zealand Institute, vol. xxvi. p. 1, 1893. 



t "The Place of the Australian Aboriginal in recent Anthropological Research," Australian Association for Advance- 

 ment of Science, Adelaide, 1907. The Anatomical Museum of the University is indebted to Dr Ramsay Smith fora fine 

 collection of the bones of the Australian aborigines. In a series from the northern territory the platymery is 

 distinct and the infratroclianleiic ridge is strongly marked. 



5j Journ. of Auat. and Phys., vol. xxviii. p. 10, 1894. 



