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ANIMAL MECHANICS. 



Mechanics, combined with the Postulate of maximum work ; 

 and starting from this foundation, in the inverse order to that 

 employed in the case of the Lion's hip, we might proceed to 

 re-clothe a given skeleton with its proper muscles, and cal- 

 culate with accuracy the amount of the forces employed in 

 every action of the body of the living animal. 



ii. Muscular Types. — I now propose to develop, by 

 means of a few examples, the theory of Muscular Types, of 

 various animals, based upon the preceding proofs of the 

 individual importance of each muscle ; and shall choose as 

 my first example the well-marked Type of the Felidce. 



(a.) Muscular Type of the Felidce. — In discussing the 

 theory of muscular types, I shall confine my attention, chiefly, 

 to the hip and shoulder muscles. Let the weight of each 

 muscle be taken, as measuring the work done by it, and let 

 the total weight of all the muscles acting on the joint be 

 represented by 100, so that the weight of each muscle is 

 given as a percentage ; we may thus construct Tables for the 

 several animals in which all the figures are comparable. In 

 order to avoid unnecessary columns of figures, I do not 

 reproduce the actual weight of each muscle, but give the 

 total actual weight of all, so that any reader can calculate 

 back from the Table the original weight of any muscle. The 

 animals selected for the present purpose are — 



1 . Adult African Lion (magnificent specimen). 



2. Adult African Lioness (not related by blood to Lion). 



3. Bengal Tiger (magnificent specimen). 



4. Indian Leopard (male). 



5. African Leopard (male). 



