As to special descriptive characteristics of the Munsee femora, special
attention was paid to the linea aspera, the shape of the shaft at
middle, and the presence and development of the third trochanter.
_Linea aspera._—The linea aspera was found to be generally well
developed, but seldom high and in no case excessively rough, indicating
well but not exceptionally developed musculature.
_Shape of the shaft._—As to the shape of the shaft at middle, in a
fourth of the males and in nearly half the females this was found to
be more or less prismatic, and in 9 per cent of the males and 7.5 per
cent of the females, plano-convex; the remainder of the bones showing,
with one exception, intermediary or not well-defined shapes. None of
the femora present the cylindrical (juvenile) type, or type 4 (anterior
surface divided in two by a long vertical ridge), and in but one bone
is the shape clearly elliptical. Among the whites the last named
(elliptical) form is much more common, while the plano-convex type is
less frequent than in the Indians.[58]
[58] Compare _Arkansas and Louisiana Femora_, op. cit., p. 217.
_Third trochanter._—Respecting the third trochanter, this presents
itself as a more or less marked ridge, or an oblong tuberosity, or a
round tuberosity; and in any of these forms it may be slight, medium,
or pronounced. In some instances there will be found a depression,
instead of an elevation, in the bone at or near this locality. These
different forms have no separate morphological significance. They all
serve for or are due to the attachment of the gluteus maximus muscle,
and merge into each other by transitional stages. In the Munsee,
conditions in regard to the third trochanter were as follows: