OCR Text |
Show 1870.] ANATOMY OF THE PRONGBUCK. 365 grooved and ridged posteriorly for the attachment of the long flexor muscles. The internal malleolus is large, triangular, and flat. The tarsus consists of os calcis, astragalus, adnate cuneiforms, scaphoids, and a cuboid. The male pelvis : a. s. sp. Anterior superior spinous process; e. sp. External ischial spine or tuberosity; t. i. Tuber ischium. The conjoined metatarsals of the hind limb or cylindrical cannon-bone, as in the majority of Antelopes and Deer, evinces a greater tendency to duplicity than does its equivalent bone of the pectoral extremity-this by its being grooved throughout in front, but not deeply cleft. There is also longitudinal grooving in its after surface, but only in its lower part, the gutter being shallow. This cannon-bone measures 8*7 inches in long diameter, and shows a very slight lateral flattening of the shaft. There is an entire absence of accessory splints, or rod-spicules, corresponding to extra metatarsals, and the same may be said of the metatarsal segment of the fore limb. The osseous conformation thus tallies with the outer aspect of the legs in deprivation of false hoofs. The digits and their additional sesamoidea are completely identical with those of the fore foot. C. Vertebral Column and Thorax. (a) Spine.-The vertebral elements present in the spinal PROC. ZOOL. Soc-1870, No. XXV. |