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On the Appendicular Skeleton of the Primates. [Jan. 10_, 



January 10, 1867. 

 Lieut.-General SABINE, President, in tlie Chair. 

 The following communication was read : — 



On the Appendicular Skeleton of the Primates.-'^ By St. George 

 MivART, F.Z.S., Lecturer on Comparative Anatomy at St. Mary^s 

 Hospital. Communicated by Prof. Huxley. Received No- 

 vember 22, 1866. 



(Abstract.) 



The author began by mentioning the principal variations found in the 

 order Primates, as to the absolute and relative length of the pectoral limb 

 with and without the manus ; and then taking each bone separately, described 

 the modifications undergone by each in all the genera of the order*; as 

 also the relative size of the segments and bones of the limb compared to 

 each other and to the spine. The pelvic limb was then similarly treated 

 of, and, in addition, its segments and bones were compared with the homo- 

 typal segments and bones of the pectoral limb. 



The author after this reconsidered the question as to the use of the 

 terms " hand " and " foot," and the applicability of the term " Quadru- 

 manous " to Apes and Lemuroids. 



He controverted the position lately assumed by Dr. Lucaef, that both 

 anatomically and physiologically the pes of apes is more Hke the human 

 hand than the human foot. At the same time he recommended the use of 

 unambiguous homological terms, such as *^ manus" and "pes" (already 

 adopted by some) instead of " hand " and " foot," in all treatises on com- 

 parative anatomy. 



Tables of the dimensions and proportions of the limbs^ their segments, 

 and bones were then given, exhibiting the variations presented in these 

 respects throughout the whole series of genera. 



The author then considered the more peculiar forms of the order, begin- 

 ning with Man. 



The principal resemblances and differences in form, size, and proportion 

 between the human appendicular skeleton and that of other primates were 

 given in detail, followed by a list of those points in which man differs, as to 

 the bony structure of his limbs, from all other primates. 



The limb-skeletons of the Orang, Marmoset, Indri, Slender Lemur, 

 Tarsier, and Aye-aye were then similarly reviewed, and lists given of the 

 absolute peculiarities found in each. 



The conclusion arrived at from these comparisons was, that Man differs 

 less from the higher Apes than do certain primates below him from each 



* Except certain Lemuroids, of whicli no specimens exist in this country, 

 t Abhandlungen von der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft. Frank- 

 fort, 1865, vol. v. p. 275. 



