The carpus, or wrist, includes 8 short bones, arranged in two rows of four each, so as to form a broad support for the hand. These bones are closely packed, and tightly bound with ligaments which admit of ample flexibility. Thus the wrist is much less liable to be broken than if it were to consist of a single bone, while the elasticity from having the eight bones movable on each other, neutralizes, to a great extent, a shock caused by falling on the hands. Although each of the wrist bones has a very limited mobility in relation to its neighbors, their combination gives the hand that freedom of action upon the wrist, which is manifest in countless examples of the most accurate and delicate manipulation.

The metacarpal bones are the five long bones of the back of the hand. They are attached to the wrist and to the finger bones, and may be easily felt by pressing the fingers of one hand over the back of the other. The metacarpal bones of the fingers have little freedom of movement, while the thumb, unlike the others, is freely movable. We are thus enabled to bring the thumb in opposition to each of the fingers, a matter of the highest importance in manipulation. For this reason the loss of the thumb disables the hand far more than the loss of either of the fingers. This very significant opposition of the thumb to the fingers, furnishing the complete grasp by the hand, is characteristic of the human race, and is wanting in the hand of the ape, chimpanzee, and ourang-outang.

The phalanges, or finger bones, are the fourteen small bones arranged in three rows to form the fingers. Each finger has three bones; each thumb, two.

The large number of bones in the hand not only affords every variety of movement, but offers great resistance to blows or shocks. These bones are united by strong but flexible ligaments. The hand is thus given strength and flexibility, and enabled to accomplish the countless movements so necessary to our well-being.

In brief, the hand is a marvel of precise and adapted mechanism, capable not only of performing every variety of work and of expressing many emotions of the mind, but of executing its orders with inconceivable rapidity.

The Bones of the Lower Limbs.

46. The Lower Limbs. The general structure and number of the bones of the lower limbs bear a striking similarity to those of the upper limbs. Thus the leg, like the arm, is arranged in three parts, the thigh, the lower leg, and the foot. The thigh bone corresponds to the humerus; the tibia and fibula to the ulna and radius; the ankle to the wrist; and the metatarsus and the phalanges of the foot, to the metacarpus and the phalanges of the hand.

The bones of the lower limbs may be thus arranged:

making 30 bones in all.