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Show 1M76.] MR. F. J. BELL ON MOSCHUS MOSCHIFERUS. 185 from each of which a tendon arises; these three tendons unite into one, strong and deeply situated, at the carpus. In the Sheep and Cervus, only two branches are formed by this tendon, one for the third phalanx of each median digit; but in Moschus, shortly before reaching the metacarpophalangeal region, there is given off from each side a delicate tendon, which is inserted into the third phalanx of the second and fifth digits respectively ; while the remainder, scarcely diminished in size, passes through the sheath afforded it by the tendons of the perforatus, shortly after its own bifurcation. A similar arrangement obtains in Hyomoschus, according to Chatin ; in the Pig, however, the perforans is divided into four distinct branches. There are no lumbrical or interosseous muscles, as might be inferred from the structure of tbe bones of the manus. Hyomoschus has one lumbrical and four interossei, as the Pig. II. Hind limb. The femur, as already stated, was removed, so that it was impossible to note the origins of several muscles, as had been done in the fore limb ; but I saw nothing to lead me to suppose that there was any variation from that which ordinarily obtains among Ruminants. On removing the skin and fascia, it was very easy to separate, on the posterior side of the leg, in the tibial region, a large triangular mass of muscle, terminating in a tendon, which seemed to be inserted into the head of the process of the calcaneum, and then to pass on to the digits. Such an appearance is common enough in the hind limbs of Ungulates, and seems to have given rise to Prof. Owen's remark that the gastrocnemius sends a tendon to the digits*-the fact being, indeed, that the tendon which thus crosses, as described by Owen, over the calcaneum, but which is not inserted into it, is that of the plantaris muscle, the arrangement of which was clearly pointed out by Meckelf, in speaking of the Horse:- " Chez les solipedesle plantairegrele et le courtflechisseur commun sont confondus ; ou, si Ton veut, le dernier estavorte... . Le tendon du muscle se dirige d'abord au devant de celui du triceps de la jambe [i. e. the gastrocnemius and soleus] ; arrive au calcaneum, il se place derriere ce tendon, s'epanouit et s'insere a la grande apophyse de cet os J ; puis il se prolonge en avant." By others, again, the soleus has been considered the muscle from which the perforated tendon arises, as Chatin says§: - "D'apres plusieurs auteurs, Stannius entre autres, le soleaire * " The chief peculiarity of the flexors of the digits of the hind foot in hoofed quadrupeds is the accession of muscles not so applied in other mammals. Thus the ' gastrocnemius,' besides its insertion into the heel-bone, sends a strong tendon along the back of the metatarsal, to the phalanges, where it expands and bifurcates, each division again splitting for the passage of that of the 'flexor perforans' before being inserted into the middle phalanges."-Anat. of Vertebrates, vol. iii. p. 46. t Anat. Comp. French ed. vol. vi. p. 442. X It would be more correct to say that at this point the tendon is surrounded by a fibrous cap, inserted into the bone, which it has itself formed. § Loc. cit. |