ME. ST. GfEOEGfE MIYAET ON THE SKELETON OF THE PEIMATES. 
365 
metatarsals might be neglected in considering the osteology of the limbs ; but it may be 
remarked that this absence is a necessary condition of the strongly prehensile action of 
the hallux ; and that the hallux has such action in the Primates below Man is admitted 
by all. The difference presented amongst Apes as to the extent of connexion by soft 
structures, of continuous digits is not less remarkable. 
As to the form of the heads of the metatarsals, the transverse grooves on the dorsum, 
and the projecting tubercles beneath, are but little less marked in some Cynocephali 
than in Man ; and in such the pes far more resembles, in this respect also, the human 
foot than the human hand. 
In the length of the digits, as compared with the metatarsals, in the predominance of 
the third digit in so many forms, and in the greater plantar flexion of the tarso-metatarsal 
and metacarpo-phalangeal joints, the pes of Apes does rather resemble the hand of Man 
than his foot ; but the elongation of the digits in the pes of Apes is a point conceded 
by all disputants. 
The convexity of the distal articular surface of the ento-cuneiforme is again a point of 
resemblance to the hand of Man ; but, as has been before said in describing that part, 
the angle formed by the long axis of that surface with a line traversing the distal surface 
of the other tarsals more resembles that of the human foot than the homotypal angle 
of Man’s hand (Plate XI Y. figs. 6-9) ; and in general form and proportion the ento- 
cuneiforme of the Gorilla is overwhelmingly more like its human homologue than it is 
like the trapezium of Man (Plate XIV. fig. 11). 
But, in addition to these points, it should be borne in mind that the pes of the rest of 
the Primates resembles the foot of Man, in that — 
1. Except in the Chimpanzee, Cheiromys, and Hylobates, it always exceeds in length 
the manus of the same individual. 
2. Consequently with the same exceptions, the proportion borne by the pes to the 
spine exceeds that borne by the manus. 
3. The proportion borne by the length of the tarsus to that of the spine always 
greatly exceeds that of the carpus. 
4. The whole of the tarsal bones, in number, form, proportion, and connexions, re- 
semble the human ones infinitely more than they do the carpals of Man. 
5. The tarsus directly joins both the long bones of the middle segment of the limb, 
not only one, as in the human hand. 
6. The articulation with the leg, however oblique, is on the type of the human foot, 
and not on that of the human hand and arm. 
7. Very generally the ecto-cuneiforme projects distally considerably beyond the 
meso-cuneiforme. 
8. The cuboides has a transverse ridge and no process like the unciforme, and it has 
a more or less sharply-marked prominence behind. 
9. The tarsus sometimes exceeds the metatarsus in length. 
10. If the line joining the bases of the metatarsals forms an angle with the long 
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