Catalogue of Australian mammals : with introductory notes on general mammalogy / by J. Douglas Ogilby.
- Ogilby, J. Douglas (James Douglas), 1853-1925.
- Date:
- 1892
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Catalogue of Australian mammals : with introductory notes on general mammalogy / by J. Douglas Ogilby. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![bones are fixed in this position, but in a few, as in Man, a free movement of crossing and uncrossing—technically known as pro- nation and supination—is allowed. In most Quadrupeds the ulna is much reduced in size, and the radius, especially at its upper end, correspondingly increased, so that the articular surface of the latter extends across the entire anterior surface of the humerus, and thus the bones become anterior and posterior, instead of external and internal. Manus.—The skeleton of the terminal section of the anterior limb consists of three divisions :—(1) the carpus, a group of small, more or less rounded or angular bones, with flattened surfaces contiguous to one another, which, though articulating by synovial joints, that is joints enclosing a capsule which secretes a lubricating fluid, have, nevertheless, scarcely any motion between them ; (2) the metacarpus, a series of bones, placed side by side, and with their proximal ends articulating by almost immovable joints with the carpus ] and (.3) the phalanges, or bones of the digits proper, which are usually three in number to each digit, and articulate to one another, and the first to the distal end of the corresponding metacarpal bone, by freely movable hinge- joints. Carpus.—The mammalian carpus consists of two transverse series of bones, of which the upper or proximal, series contains three bones, that on the radial side, from which side all these bones are counted, being known as the scaphoid, that in the middle the lunar, and that on the left the ctineiform bone ; the lower or distal series contains five bones, of which the two outer are always united into a single bone, and receive a common name; these have been respectively termed the trapezunn, trapezoid, magnum, and unciform; between these two series a single bone, the central, may or may not be present. Two additional bones are generally developed in the tendons of the flexor muscles, one on e.ach side of the carpus, which may be called, the radial and ulna sesamoid bones ; the latter of these, which is the more constant, and generally the larger, has received the distinctive title of the pisiform bone. Metacarpus and Phalanges.—The metacarpal bones are never more than five in number, nor are the digits which they assist in supporting; they are described numerically as first, second, etc. The digits have each a distinguishing name, the pollex (thumb), index, medius, annulus, and minimus. One or more of these may be in a rudimentary condition, or altogether suppressed, and where only one is absent it is generally the pollex. No Mammals, except the Cetacea, have more than three phalanges to each digit, while in the pollex one of the three is constantly absent. The terminal phalanges are usually specially modified to support the nail, claw, or hoof, and are termed ungual phalanges. Distinguishing terms are applied to the mode of](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28098717_0016.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
