219

189

inch and a half : its obtuse and thick upper end commences behind and half an inch
below the posterior border of the entocondyloid cavity : the process gradually contracts
to a point at its lower end, which overhangs the smooth groove continued obliquely
downwards and outwards to the foramen formed by the persistent remnant of the inter-
osseous space between the inner (11) and middle (111) metatarsal elements of the com-
pound metatarse.

The mesocalcaneal process (fig. 2, c m) is the largest of the three : it is broad and
rounded about, slightly grooved down its posterior surface, and supported by the rough
posteriorly projecting buttress-like part of the mesometatarse, of which it seems to form
the obtuse summit.

The ectocalcaneal process is the smallest : it is separated by a shallow open groove
from the mesocalcaneal process : it begins to project half an inch below the posterior
convexity of the ectocondyloid surface : its lower part subsides before it reaches the
foramen between the ecto- and meso-metatarse. the interval between the two inter-
osseous foramina, which gives the breadth of the mesometatarse at that point, is greater
in the Palapteryx robustus than in the Dinornis giganteus, notwithstanding the greater
length of the bone in the latter species.

The anterior interconsyloid protuberance sends a short obtuse ridge downwards and
slightly outwards upon the fore part of the upper end of the tarso-metatarse. A large
low rough protuberance projects forwards and outwards below the antero-interval angle
of the entocondyloid surface ; between this protuberance and the opposite angle the
anterior surface is gently concave from side to side : the fossa between the proximal ends
of the ento- and ecto-metatarsals commences two inches below the intercondyloid
eminence : it is a vertical elongated ellispse, bounded behind by the mesometatarse and
below by the rough depression and protuberance, for the insertion of the Tibialis anticus.
Below this protuberance a broad and very shallow depression extends to near the middle
of the shaft, where it is filled up by the advance of the mesometatarse towards the
anterior surface of the bone, where it forms a longitudinal prominence, which increases in
breadth as it approaches the condule of the same element : a shallow and longitudinal
groove extends on each side of this median eminence to the interspaces between the
middle and the lateral condyles. There is no perforation in either of the grooves leading
to these intespaces.

The back part of the upper two-thirds of the shaft of the mesometatarse forms a
buttress-like prominence extending from the mesocalcaneal process down to the lower
third of the common shaft ; the upper third of this process is very rugged ; the rest is
comparatively smooth : the borders of the back part of the common shaft are roughened
for the attachment of the strong fascia that bound down the tendons traversing that
aspect of the shaft : the rough tract on the inner side terminates in the rough oval
depression for the attachment of the rudimental metatarse of the hallux : from the lower
border of this depression to the division between the inner and middle condyle measures