KANE, a borough of McKean county, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., about 90 m.
E.S.E. of Erie. Pop. (1890), 2944; (1900), 5296, (971 foreign-born);
(1910) 6626. It is served by the Pennsylvania, the Baltimore & Ohio, the
Kane & Elk, and the Big Level & Kinzua railways. It is situated about
2015 ft. above the sea in a region producing natural gas, oil, lumber
and silica, and has some reputation as a summer resort. The borough has
manufactories of window glass, plate glass and bottles, and repair shops
of the Pennsylvania railroad. Kane was settled in 1859, and was
incorporated as a borough in 1887. It was named in honour of its founder
Gen. Thomas L. Kane (1822-1883), brother of Elisha Kent Kane.
KANGAROO, the universally accepted, though not apparently the native,
designation of the more typical representatives of the marsupial family
_Macropodidae_ (see MARSUPIALIA). Although intimately connected with the
cuscuses and phalangers by means of the musk-kangaroo, the kangaroos and
wallabies, together with the rat-kangaroos, are easily distinguishable
from other diprotodont marsupials by their general conformation, and by
peculiarities in the structure of their limbs, teeth and other organs.
They vary in size from that of a sheep to a small rabbit. The head,
especially in the larger species, is small, compared with the rest of
the body, and tapers forward to the muzzle. The shoulders and fore-limbs
are feebly developed, and the hind-limbs of disproportionate strength
and magnitude, which give the animals a peculiarly awkward appearance
when moving about on all-fours, as they occasionally do when feeding.
Rapid progression is, however, performed only by the powerful
hind-limbs, the animals covering the ground by a series of immense
bounds, during which the fore part of the body is inclined forwards, and
balanced by the long, strong and tapering tail, which is carried
horizontally backwards. When not moving, they often assume a perfectly
upright position, the tail aiding the two hind-legs to form a tripod,
and the front-limbs dangling by the side of the chest. This position
gives full scope for the senses of sight, hearing and smell to warn of
the approach of enemies. The fore-paws have five digits, each armed with
a strong, curved claw. The hind-foot is extremely long, narrow and
(except in the musk-kangaroo) without the first toe. It consists mainly
of one very large and strong toe, corresponding to the fourth of the
human foot, ending in a strong curved and pointed claw (fig. 2). Close
to the outer side of this lies a smaller fifth digit, and to the inner
side two excessively slender toes (the second and third), bound together
almost to the extremity in a common integument. The two little claws of
these toes, projecting together from the skin, may be of use in
scratching and cleaning the fur of the animal, but the toes must have
quite lost all connexion with the functions of support or progression.
This type of foot-structure is termed syndactylous.
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