Man's Place in Nature, and Other EssaysHuxley, Thomas Henry
Science
Man's Place in Nature, and Other Essays
Huxley, Thomas Henry
Apes; Ethnology; Human beings -- Origin; Indo-Europeans
3. A left humerus, of which the upper-third is wanting, and which is so
much slenderer than the right as apparently to belong to a distinct
individual; a left _ulna_, which, though complete, is pathologically
deformed, the coronoid process being so much enlarged by bony growth,
that flexure of the elbow beyond a right angle must have been
impossible; the anterior fossa of the humerus for the reception of the
coronoid process being also filled up with a similar bony growth. At the
same time, the olecranon is curved strongly downwards. As the bone
presents no sign of rachitic degeneration, it may be supposed that an
injury sustained during life was the cause of the anchylosis. When the
left ulna is compared with the right radius, it might at first sight be
concluded that the bones respectively belonged to different individuals,
the ulna being more than half an inch too short for articulation with a
corresponding radius. But it is clear that this shortening, as well as
the attenuation of the left humerus, are both consequent upon the
pathological condition above described.
4. A left _ilium_, almost perfect, and belonging to the femur; a
fragment of the right _scapula_; the anterior extremity of a rib of the
right side; and the same part of a rib of the left side; the hinder part
of a rib of the right side; and, lastly, two hinder portions and one
middle portion of ribs, which, from their unusually rounded shape, and
abrupt curvature, more resemble the ribs of a carnivorous animal than
those of a man. Dr. H. v. Meyer, however, to whose judgment I defer,
will not venture to declare them to be ribs of any animal; and it only
remains to suppose that this abnormal condition has arisen from an
unusually powerful development of the thoracic muscles.
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