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SKATE

1763

SKELETON

way. The harbors are all on the coast of Norway.

Skate, a common name of several kinds of the ray. The tobacco-box skate, barndoor-skate and briar-skate are American varieties, and the tinker and the gray skate are found in Scotland and in England. Their egg-cases, called mermaid's purses, are often thrown upon the beach. The flesh is coarse, and the expanded fins are the parts usually eaten,,

Skat'ing is moving on the ice by means of steel blades fastened to the soles of the shoes, called skates. In early times the shin-bones of animals were tied to the feet, and, by using a stick to push with, the wearer could move over the smooth surface of the ice. Skates now used are of two kinds, those for speed and those for figure-skating. The blades for speed-skating are very thin and are longer than the foot, while those for making figures are broader and are rounded at the toe and heel. In the north-. ern countries of Europe, where the ice has a slight covering of snow, skating is very popular. The motion is rapid, the Frieslanders often traveling 15 miles an hour. Skate-racing is often practiced, the fastest time yet made being a mile in two minutes and 52 seconds. Figure-skating is practiced in America, Canada, Holland, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Ice-rinks are used for this amusement, and are often crowded with spectators. Wheel-skates or roller-skates were invented in 1865, by Mr. Plimpton, of New York, though a form of them had been patented in France in 1819. The use of them is a fine preparation for skating, and the amusement has been very popular,

Skeleton, the hard parts of an animal. Accepted in this broad sense, the skeleton includes the hard outer covering or exoskeleton and the inner bones or endoskeleton. As examples of exoskeletons we have the shells of clams, snails and other mollusks; the shell or test of the sea-urchins; the limy plates of the star-fishes; the shell of the lobsters and cray-fishes; the bony carapace and plastron of turtles and the like. The internal bony framework of vertebrated animals is an endoskeleton consisting of bones and cartilages. The comparative study of endo-skeletons leads to many interesting conclusions. There are similar or homologous parts in all. For example, the wing of a bat or bird is constructed on the same plan as the flipper of a seal, the fore-limb of a dog, a horse or a man. That is, corresponding bones can be

made out in them all. The same is true of hind-limbs and other parts of the skeleton, including the skull. This serves to unite animals on the line of similitude of structure. The hard parts are for protection, when on the outside, and also for the attachment of muscles. Not only is there correspondence between the bones of different animals, but the muscles, nerves and blood-vessels are similar. The fossil bones of extinct animals have furnished clues to the past history of life on the globe. There are upwards of 200 separate bones in the human skeleton. The actual number of distinct bones varies at different periods

HUMAN SKELETON

of life; many bones which are separated in youth become united in old age. The skull has 22 distinct bones in early adult life; but in youth the number is larger and in old age less. There is a tendency for the bones to unite in old age. .There originally are 33 separate bones in the spinal column.