THE LIMBS 



153 



a trace of movement between them. The metacarpus 

 consists mainly of one great bone, the £ cannon-bone' of 

 veterinarians, representing the third or middle meta- 

 carpal of the human hand (3m, fig. 6, p. 37). Lying on 

 each side of this, and generally in full-grown animals 

 united with it, are two smaller bones, the ' splint-bones ' 

 of veterinary anatomy (2m and 4???,). These represent 

 respectively the second and fourth metacarpals of the 

 human hand. Above they have thickened heads, which 

 articulate in the usual manner with the carpal bones ; but 

 below they taper off almost to nothing, ending some way 

 above the lower end of the great middle bone. The part 

 commonly called the c knee ' of the horse thus corresponds 

 to the back of the wrist of man, and everything beyond 

 or below it corresponds to the hand proper, the hinder 

 surface being the palm, long and narrow in the horse, 

 as it is short and broad in man. As only one meta- 

 carpal bone is fully developed, there is but one digit or 

 finger, which, as in man, has three bones (phalanges, 

 p l , _p 2 , and £> 3 , fig. 6), connected by hinge-joints, allow- 

 ing only the motions of bending or straightening back- 

 wards and forwards. The first phalanx is somewhat 

 elongated, the next very short, and the last (the 

 ungual phalanx) very broad and of a peculiar semilunar 

 form. These bones are in veterinary anatomy called 

 respectively the ' large pastern ' or os suffraginis, the 

 ' small pastern ' or os coronce, and the i coffin-bone ' or 



