Karl Pearson and Adelaide (jI. Davin 
355 
(11) Pinnipedia. 
No sesamoids of the gastrocnemius were found by Gruber* in Phoca sp. ! He 
thus confirmed an earlier statement of Meckel f that the fabelkte were absent in 
seals. Again reminding the reader of the unreliability of evidence drawn from 
articulated skeletons, we may note that the following articulated skeletons were 
examined without finding traces of fabellae : Otaria stelleri (Steller's sea lion), 
Stenorhynchus serridens (saw-toothed seal), Ci/stophora c/'is^c;<a (bladder-nosed seal), 
Otaria falklandina (Falkland fur seal), Phoca vitidina (common seal), Phoca green- 
landica (the harp seal), Phoca hispida (ringed seal), Balaenoptera rostrata (lesser 
fin whale), Odoboenus rosmariis (walrus), Macrorhinus leoitiuns (elephant seal), 
Otaria jubata (southern sea lion). 
In Otaria californiana there is small process or upward growth where articular 
surface of external condyle meets popliteal area, but it is not sesamoidal in 
character. We dissected, however, a knee-joint of Otaria australis (South American 
fur seal) and found no such process. There is nothing, therefore, in our observations 
inconsistent with the view of Meckel that the Pinnipedia have no fabellae. 
(12) Chiroptera. 
Meckel^ asserts that the bats have only the external fabella. Owen§ says that 
Vespertilio marinus, Pteropiis, and GaleopitJiecus have both external and internal 
fabellae, while Gruber says that Galeopithecus has neither fabella. Blainvillep 
asserts the existence of a sesamoid in the tendon of popliteus in the case of Ves- 
pertilio L., i.e., of a cyamella. Humphrylf dealing with the myology of limbs of 
Pteropus and treating of gastrocnemius writes : " There is a minute ossicle in the 
outer head. I cannot find one in the inner head." The not unusual statement is 
that the sesamoids, the patella and even the semi-lunars are wanting. The above 
statements suggest that fabellae and cya mella exist occasionally or in minute forms. 
Parsons** writing of the Chiroptera says no movement except extension and fiexion 
is allowed in fruit bats and there are no traces of the semilunar cartilages; the 
patella is absent. " In the long-eared bat (Plecotus) which will serve as an example 
of the insectivorous bats the knee-joint does allow a certain amount of rotation and 
in it semilunar cartilages are found as very delicate rings. This bat resembles the 
fruit bat, however, in the absence of any trace of a patella." 
On the other hand the bat Cynopterus marginatus appears in the specimen (R. C. 
of S. Museum A. 3396) we were able to examine to have an ossified patella, and there 
might be other ossifications in the knee-joint, but it was not possible to say from 
this specimen. Gruber-ff also found the external fabella in Phyllostoma hastatwm, 
but failed to find it in Pteropus sp. ? Besides the above Cynopterus we have 
obtained and examined a considerable number of knee-joints of bats — principally 
* Loc. cit. p. 60. 
t Loc. cit. S. 634. J Loc. cit. S. 634. 
§ Anatomy of Vertebrates, Vol. ii. p. 358. 
II Osteographie des Cheiropteres, Tom. i. Fasc. 5, p. 30, 1840, 
H Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, 1869, p. 813. 
*♦ Ihid. Vol. XXXIV. p. 310, 1900. tt Loe. cit. p. 55. 
