398 
ME. ST. GEOEGE MIYAET ON THE SKELETON OE THE PEIMATES. 
When the outer surface of the blade of the ilium is looked at, about two-thirds of the 
acetabulum are visible, thus differing from the Simiinag, but agreeing with the bulk of 
the order. 
Femur . — The femur attains an absolute length much exceeding that of any other Pri- 
mate; nevertheless, the transverse diameter of the shaft is absolutely greater in the 
Gorilla. 
The angle formed by the neck with the shaft is greater than exists in some other 
Primates, but is less than in many. The angle formed by the shaft with a horizontal 
surface, on which both condjdes are made to rest, deviates more from a right angle 
than in any other Primate, though in this there is greater difference between inferior 
forms. 
The proportion of the femur to the spine is greater than in any other genus of the 
Primates except Hylobates and Tarsius, in which it is still larger. It is, however, very 
nearly approached in Ateles ; and Tarsius exceeds Man, in this proportion, much more 
than Man exceeds the Gorilla. 
The length of the femur, compared with that of the humerus, is much greater than in 
any other of the Anthropoidea, and very much greater than in the Simiinse ; neverthe- 
less, I find it (thus compared) exceeded in all the Lemuroidea I have examined except the 
Nycticebinse and Cheiromys — Tarsius exceeding Man much more than he exceeds even 
Simia. 
Its length, compared with that of the os innominatum, is greater than in any other of 
the Anthropoidea ; nevertheless, it is exceeded in Indris and Tarsius. 
The angularity of the shaft and the prominence of the linea aspera are greater than 
in any other Primate, as also, most probably, the prolongation of the latter to the outer 
condyle. 
The trochanteric fossa is rather more shallow than in most, but not so much so as in 
the Gorilla and Perodicticus ; and in the remaining characters of the femur Man occu- 
pies an intermediate position. 
The tibial trochanter is as small as, or smaller relatively, than in any other Primate, 
and the intertrochanteric line in front (as in the largest Cynocephali) is very distinct. The 
two condyles are pretty equally developed as to projection backwards (differing thus from 
the Simiinge and others), but the inner condyle descends peculiarly. Still in this the 
difference between Man and certain Apes * is less than that between forms of the Order 
inferior to him. 
The rotular surface differs from that of all other Primates in the great predominance 
of that part of it which is supported by the external condyle. The transverse concavity 
of the rotular surface is greater than in the Simiinaef and Nycticebinae, but it is exceeded 
in the Lemuroidea other than the last-named subfamily. 
* See, e. g., the femur of Ateles (No. 4708 in the Museum of the Eoyal College of Surgeons), where the de- 
scent of the inner condyle is very marked indeed. 
f Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. v. p. 16, as regards Troglodytes. 
