[34] “The posterior extremities in both the lion and tiger are longer, and the bones inclined more obliquely to each other than the anterior, giving them greater power and elasticity in springing.”
Another drawback to great speed in man is his erect position. Part of the power which should move the limbs is dedicated to supporting the trunk. For the same reason the bones of the legs, instead of being obliquely inclined to each other, as in the quadruped and bird, are arranged in a nearly vertical spiral line. This arrangement increases the angle formed by any two bones, and, as a consequence, decreases the speed of the limbs, as explained. A similar disposition of the bones is found in the anterior extremities of the elephant, where the superincumbent weight is great, and the speed, comparatively speaking, not remarkable. The bones of the human leg are beautifully adapted to sustain the weight of the body and neutralize shock.[35] Thus the femur or thigh bone is furnished at its upper extremity with a ball-and-socket joint which unites it to the cup-shaped depression (acetabulum) in the ilium (hip bone). It is supplied with a neck which carries the body or shaft of the bone in an oblique direction from the ilium, the shaft being arched forward and twisted upon itself to form an elongated cylindrical screw. The lower extremity of the femur is furnished with spiral articular surfaces accurately adapted to the upper extremities of the bones of the leg, viz. the tibia and fibula, and to the patella. The bones of the leg (tibia and fibula) are spirally arranged, the screw in this instance being split up. At the ankle the bones of the leg are applied to those of the foot by spiral articular surfaces analogous to those found at the knee-joint. The weight of the trunk is thus thrown on the foot, not in straight lines, but in a series of curves. The foot itself is wonderfully adapted to receive the pressure from above. It consists of a series of small bones (the tarsal, metatarsal, and phalangeal bones), arranged in the form of a double arch; the one arch extending from the heel towards the toes, the other arch across the foot. The foot is so contrived that it is at once firm, elastic, and moveable,--qualities which enable it to sustain pressure from above, and exert pressure from beneath. In walking, the heel first reaches and first leaves the ground. When the heel is elevated the weight of the body falls more and more on the centre of the foot and toes, the latter spreading out[36] as in birds, to seize the ground and lever the trunk forward. It is in this movement that the wonderful mechanism of the foot is displayed to most advantage, the multiplicity of joints in the foot all yielding a little to confer that elasticity of step which is so agreeable to behold, and which is one of the characteristics of youth. The foot may be said to roll over the ground in a direction from behind forwards. I have stated that the angles formed by the bones of the human leg are larger than those formed by the bones of the leg of the quadruped and bird. This is especially true of the angle formed by the femur with the ilium, which, because of the upward direction given to the crest of the ilium in man, is so great that it virtually ceases to be an angle.
