16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
ing ill and thin and when they sat down
Stephen said to him in a low voice, 'I trust I
see you tolerably well?'
'Perfectly so, I thank you,' said Martin without
a smile. 'It was only a passing malaise.'
'I am glad to hear it; but you must certainly
stay on deck this evening,' said Stephen; and
after a pause, 'I have just made a discovery
that I think will please you. In the frigate-bird
the symphysis of the furcula coalesces with the
carina and the upper end of each ramus with
the caracoid, while in its turn each caracoid
coalesces with the proximal end of the scapula!'
His look of modest triumph faded as he
saw that Martin's anatomy did not appear to
reach so far, or at least not to grasp at the
consequences, and he went on, 'The result, of
course, is that the whole assembly is entirely
rigid, apart from the slight flexion of the rami. I
believe this to be unique among existing birds,