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in 11, |] andi. 1. The second phalanx (1v. 2) is almost as broad as it is long. The 
inner concavity of its proximal trochlea is the broadest; the upper surface extends 
straight from the proximal to the distal trochlea, and it is less convex from side to side 
than in 111. 2, The under surface is nearly flat, and presents a ridge near to and nearly 
parallel with the lower margin of the proximal trochlea, The large and deep pits for 
the lateral ligaments occupy nearly the whole of the lateral surfaces of the phalanx. 
The distal trochlea is proportionally broader in comparison with its vertical extent than 
in 111, 4% or 11, 2; it is less contracted above than in 111. 3, and is also more deeply im- 
pressed by the median channel: the inner division is the broadest. 
The third phalanx (1v. 3) viewed from above is broader than it is long ; but the pro- 
duction backwards of the inferior border of the proximal articulation makes its extreme 
length rather greater than its breadth: the section through the middle of this phalanx 
would be nearly quadrate, the upper surface being broader and flatter than in any of 
the previously described phalanges. The under surface developes a ridge along the 
outer half of the inferior border of the proximal articulation: the inner concavity of that 
articulation is the broadest, ‘The ligament-pits occupy the whole lateral surface. The 
distal articulation is much broader than it is deep, and the median channel is wide and 
shallow ; the inner convexity is the broadest. 
The fourth phalanx (1y, 4), besides its smaller size, is shorter above in proportion to 
its breadth than the preceding (1v. 3): the proximal surface is divided by a less promi- 
nent ridge, and the distal one is still more feebly impressed by the median channel, 
The ungual phalanx (1v. 5) consequently may be distinguished from that of the other 
toes by the almost uniform concavity in the vertical direction of its articular surface. 
It is the smallest of the three; the outer surface is more extensive and is flatter than 
the inner one. In its lateral grooves and general downward curvature it agrees with 
the ungual phalanges of the toes 111 and 11. 
The ungual phalanges are of great strength: the base of the cone bears the same pro- 
portion to its length as in the phalanx which terminates the strongest of the two toes 
of the Ostrich (ir. 4, fig. 7); and it exceeds that in the ungual phalanges of the Rhea 
and Emeu: notwithstanding which, the claw phalanges of the Palapteryx show a degree 
of downward curvature greater than in the Ostrich or Rhea, and such as is rarely seen 
except in claw-bones of more slender proportions. 
The breadth of the base, or articular surface of the ungual phalanx of the middle toe in 
the Palapteryx robustus is one inch four lines, the length of the phalanx being three 
inches: the same admeasurements in the ungual phalanx of the inner toe, 1, give one 
inch three lines, and three inches, and in that of the outer toe, 1v, one inch one line, 
and two inches four lines. These proportions, with the downward curvature of the 
elaw-bones, indicate that the powerful claws with which they were sheathed must have 
been put to uses requiring great force, analogous to those for which the similarly pro- 
portioned claw-boues of the Apterya are adapted. In this small species the power of 
3H 
