Carpus

“ These show that the carpus of the adult consists of three large bones. Of the two in the first row, one consists of the fused radiale and intermedium, and the other of the ulnare plus the pisiform and the fifth carpale, the lower bone being composed of the four inner carpalia. ”

“ The carpus has the scaphoid and lunar distinct, and generally also the centrale; sometimes however, as in Man, the Gorilla, Chimpanzee, and some Lemurs, the centrale has apparently fused with the scaphoid. There are almost always five well-developed digits, but in the genera Colobus and Ateles the pollex is vestigial.
The magnum in man is the largest bone of the carpus. The pisiform also is well developed, but there is no radial sesamoid. In Man, the Gorilla, Chimpanzee, and Orang, the carpus articulates only with the radius, in most Primates it articulates also with the ulna. ”

“ The shoulder blade has a strong spine, but only a rudimentary acromion; nor is the coracoid well developed. The radius crosses the ulna, as in the Elephant; the whole fore-limb is shorter than the hind-limb, which must have exaggerated the hang-dog expression of the creature when alive. The elements of the carpus interlock in the modern fashion. Those of the tarsus, however, are primitive in lying below each other without alternation. The carpus has a centrale. The fibula articulates with the calcaneum. The femur has no third trochanter. There are three toes to all the limbs. ”

“ The four bones of the second row of the carpus bear the four long bones which support the palm of the hand. The fifth bone of the same character is articulated in a much more free and moveable manner than the others, with its carpal bone, and forms the base of the thumb. These are called 'metacarpal' bones, and they carry the 'phalanges', or bones of the digits, of which there are two in the thumb, and three in each of the fingers.
The skeleton of the foot is very like that of the hand in some respects. ”

“ The carpus is preserved in toto and is decidedly weak for an animal of this size, though no more so than is the case of Nesodon and Adinotherium, with which forms the arrangement of the bones agrees in almost every detail. The scaphoid has a broad facet on the upper side for the radius, on the ulna side a narrow band-like facet for the luna, and distally facets for the trapezoid and the magnum, none for the trapezium. ”

“ The carpus is formed of eight bones—four in the superior row, and four in the inferior. The third bone of the superior row (cuneiform) is more in contact with the ulna than with the radius.
There are but four metacarpal bones; there is no metacarpal of the thumb. The two median metacarpal bones are the longest; they are those which correspond to the digits which alone touch the ground. The internal digit and the external one are thin and short; they are functionless, as a rule, taking no part in supporting the limbs on the ground. ”

“ The skeleton of the hand exhibits, in the region which we term the wrist, and which is technically called the carpus—two rows of closely fitted polygonal bones, four in each row, which are tolerably equal in size. The bones of the first row with the bones of the forearm form the wrist joint, and are arranged side by side, no one greatly exceeding or over-lapping the rest. ”

“ In the Subungulata the manus sometimes has five functional digits, and a considerable part of it rests on the ground in walking. The bones of the carpus retain their primitive relation to one another, the magnum articulating with the lunar, but not with the scaphoid. ”

“ Only one carpal is converted into bone in the lower row. It is placed immediately under the smaller upper carpal. In Chelonians, the turtle and tortoise group, the characters of the carpus [Pg 123] vary with the family. In the upper row there are usually two short carpals, which may be blended, under the ulna; while the two under the radius are commonly united. The lower row is made up of several small bones. Lizards, too, usually have three bones in the proximal row and five smaller bones in the distal row. ”

“ Radius and ulna not quite so long as the humerus, often united at the ends and [59] separate in the middle. The carpus wide and short. The carpal bones six, nearly in a single row. The fingers five, all well developed, the second, third, and fourth not differing greatly in length, the fourth the shortest; the first consisting of two, the second and third of six, the fourth of five, and the fifth of four joints; the second finger two-thirds the length of the arm-bones.
The skull of the young animal is much shorter and broader than in the adult (Flower, Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vi. tab. 57) . ”

“ All the bones of the limbs are separate, and those of the carpus and tarsus do not alternate; that is to say, each one in the upper row is placed immediately above the corresponding one in the row below. ”

“ Some or indeed all of these bones may be either absent or unossified, that is, remaining through life as nodules of cartilage. Seldom, however, are there less than nine bones in the carpus of reptiles. ”

“ Homologies of Bones of Fishes.—But this homology does not extend to the details of structure. The bones of the arm of the specialized fish are not by any means identical with the humerus, coracoid, clavicle, radius, ulna, and carpus of the higher vertebrates. The vertebrate arm is not derived from the pectoral fin, but both from a cartilaginous shoulder-girdle with undifferentiated pectoral elements bearing fin-rays, in its details unlike an arm and unlike the pectoral fin of the specialized fish. ”

“ The mammalian foot, in this respect, is even more primitive than that of the lizards, turtles, and crocodiles, the navicular corresponding to the second centrale, the cuneiforms and cuboid to the four tarsalia. The fourth distale, primitively, as in the carpus and as a general rule in all reptiles, is the largest of the series, corresponding to the greater length and strength of the fourth toe. ”

“ The position of these splints is an important factor in the classification of the Cervidæ into two divisions, distinguished by Sir Victor Brooke as the Plesiometacarpals, in which the splint is near the carpus, and the Telemetacarpals, in which the splint is far from the carpus, and articulated with the digital phalanges. All the known species of deer can be classified under these two heads ”

“ The ulna and fibula are to some extent inclined backwards; the carpus has a scapho-lunar; and the feet are five-toed. The hemispheres of the brain are short and but slightly convoluted; the stomach is simple ”

“ In Birds there is a small lateral bone between the ulna and carpo-metacarpus which is evidently homologous with the lateral carpal of our Pterodactyles, and so, since this lateral carpal of the Ostrich is the pisiform bone, it results that the lateral carpal of Pterodactyle is the pisiform bone also. ”

“ Bunodont, teeth composed of conical tubercles. Calcaneum, the heel-bone. Cannon-bone, a compound bone formed by the coössification of two or more long bones of the foot. Cape Fairweather, marine Pliocene of Patagonia. Carnassial, a shearing, sectorial tooth in a flesh-eater. Carnivora, Wolves, Bears, Cats, etc., etc.; an order of placental mammals. Carnivorous, flesh-eating, predaceous. Carpal, one of the elements of the carpus. Carpus, the wrist-bones. Casa Mayor stage, terrestrial formation of Patagonia, probably Eocene. Catamarca, a Pliocene formation of Argentina. ”

“ The furcula often ossifies firmly with the anterior portion of the keel, and in Fregata, Didus and the Ratitae, the coracoids and scapulae are fused together.
Fig. 3.–Skeleton of the Limbs and Tail of a Carinate Bird. (The skeleton of the body is indicated by dotted lines.) F, digits; Fi, fibula; HW, carpus; MF, tarsometatarsus; MH, carpometacarpus; OA, humerus; OS, femur; Py, pygostyle; R, coracoid; Rd, ulna; Sch, scapula; St, sternum, with its keel (Cr) ; T, tibiotarsus; Ul, radius; Z, Z1, digits of foot. ”

“ The fifth carpale may be absent, fused with the fourth, or separate and distinct. Indeed, in some old animals the third, fourth, and fifth carpalia and the pisiform may all be coössified.
The changes of the wrist and hand in adaptation to aquatic life are more profound than those of terrestrial reptiles. The earliest observed effect of water habits is delayed ossification, not only of the mesopodial bones, but of the bones of the skeleton in general, a large amount of cartilage remaining in the joints. ”

“ Belongs also to the carp family, and is remarkable for its numerous progeny. It is a deep yet thin-made fish, in shape somewhat resembling the bream, but approaching the carp in the breadth and shape of its scales, which are large and deciduous. The soundness of the flesh is become proverbial, and pleases the taste by a peculiar delicacy of flavour. The ventral fins are, like those of the perch, of a bright crimson, and the irides of the eye sparkle like rubies and garnets. ”

“ Microscopic Structure—The carpels consist of an external, loose, dark brown layer and a thick inner wall, separated by fibro-vascular bundles. The outer layer exhibits numerous large cells, containing pale yellow volatile oil. The inner wall of the carpels consists of woody prosenchyme in those parts which are exterior to the seed cavity, and especially in the shining walls laid bare by the splitting of the ventral suture. The inner surface of the carpel is entirely composed of sclerenchyme. ”

“ Body elongate, slender. Head short and without a carapace. Thorax with eight segments. Abdomen with four segments, the posterior bearing a pair of expanded caudal rami.
Head sub-quadrangular in outline, composed of five coalesced segments, the posterior four of nearly equal width and the anterior narrow. The segmentation of the head is very plainly shown on some specimens (fig. 12) and not on others (fig. 10) . I have inclined at times to consider that there was a cephalic carapace, but finally decided that if present it was very small and thin and not to be recognized as a true carapace. ”

“ Had the ancients really used carp on their tables, we must have ascribed to them the discovery of these delicious fish.
The other proof which is brought from the scales consists in what is said by Dorion, in Athenæus116, that the cyprianus was called also by some lepidotus, or scaly. As nearly all fish have scales, the scales of this species must have been extremely large, as they got that name by way of eminence; and it must be indeed allowed, that the above epithet would suit our carp exceedingly well, as their scales are very large. ”

“ When the legs are disengaged, the animal draws its head and limbs completely out of their former covering; and, with a sudden spring forward, while it extends its abdomen, it extracts the latter, and leaves its old skeleton behind. The carapace falls back into its ordinary position, and the longitudinal fissures of the sheaths of the limbs close up so accurately, that the shed integument has just the appearance the animal had when the exuviation commenced. ”

“ The carcini alone are without a tail; the body of the carabi and carides is elongated, that of the carcini is rounded.
5. The male carabus is different from the female, for the female has the first foot divided; in the male it is formed of a single claw, and the fin-like process on the lower part is large in the female, and interchanged with each other in the neck; in the male they are small and not interchanged. In the male, also, the last feet are furnished with large and sharp processes like spurs ”

“ When it is composed of several carpels, more or less united, it is compound or polycarpellary (fig. 86) . In the first-mentioned case the terms carpel and pistil are synonymous. Each carpel has its own ovary, style (when present) , and stigma, and may be regarded as formed by a folded leaf, the upper surface of which is turned inwards towards the axis, and the lower outwards, while from its margins are developed one or more ovules. This comparison is borne out by an examination of the flower of the double-flowering cherry. ”

“ In magnolia and Ranunculus (fig. 89) the separate carpels are numerous and are arranged in a spiral cycle upon an elongated axis or receptacle. In the raspberry the carpels are on a conical receptacle; in the strawberry, on a swollen succulent one (fig. 87) ; and in the rose (fig. 88) , on a hollow one. When the carpels are united, as in the pear, arbutus and chickweed, the pistil becomes syncarpous. The number of carpels in a pistil is indicated by the Greek numeral. A flower with a simple pistil is monogynous; with two carpels, digynous; with three carpels, trigynous, &c. ”

“ Fig. 7. Another receptacle, in which the plates called by Mr. Parkinson "clavicles and scapulæ," are retained in their natural positions.
Fig. 8. A receptacle, in which the principal plates are well defined: these are named by Mr. Parkinson as follow: a, clavicle; b, scapula; c, ossicula of the arms; d, the last series of the same. The ossicles forming the elongated tentacula, Mr. P. termed "bones of the fingers."
Fig. 9. Portion of an encrinital stem with digitated processes: the nature of this fossil is unknown to me. ”

“ He has seen people slowly rise up to them, like carp in a pond when food is thrown among them; some of which carp snatch suddenly at a morsel, and swallow it; others touch it gently with their barbe, pass deliberately by, and leave it; others wriggle and rub against it more disdainfully ”

“ Joseph Jones, from whose work the illustrations given in Figs. 1 and 2, Plate LVI, have been taken. As his description is one of the first given and quite graphic, I make the following quotation: "In a carefully constructed stone sarcophagus, in which the face of the skeleton was looking toward the setting sun, a beautiful shell ornament was found resting upon the breast-bone of the skeleton. This shell ornament is 4.4 inches in diameter, and it is ornamented on its concave surface, with a small circle in the center, and four concentric bands, differently figured, in relief. ”