14 



MAMMALIAN ANATOMY 



union of several elements, are still separable into their constituent 

 parts. In the adult, on the other hand, all the different parts of 

 the bones have united, and, in a few regions, contiguous bones have 

 coalesced into one mass. This process of coalescence between normally 

 distinct bones may be carried still further in old age. 



If the soft parts be carefully removed from an adult skeleton, we 

 find three hundred and twenty-six separable bones. Of these, thirty 



FIG. 5. 



Vertebral Column. 



Hyoid. 



Clavicle. 

 Sternum, 



Metacarpus. IU1 //// Metatarsus. 



^Phalanges. "^ Phalanges. 



THE SKELETON OF THE CAT. (LEFT SIDE ONLY.) 



are teeth, which are not regarded as parts of the skeleton, and fifty- 

 eight others are inconspicuous and by some anatomists not included in 

 the enumeration ; these are the six ossicles of the ear, forty-four small 

 bones, called sesamoids, which are connected with the tendons of mus- 

 cles, principally those of the hands and feet, and eight chevron bones, 

 attached to the ventral side of the bones of the tail. The two hundred 

 and thirty-eight bones which remain may be increased to two hundred 

 and forty-two, if the two maxillo-turbinals of the skull, always con- 

 sidered distinct bones, be detached from the maxillaries, and if the 

 three elements of the backbone which together form the sacrum be 

 broken apart. Thus the total number of bones, exclusive of the 

 teeth, may be placed at three hundred, although the number will 

 vary slightly, owing to variations in the length of the tail. The 

 majority of the bones, two hundred and twenty-six, are found in 

 pairs, and but seventy-four are single and lie in the middle line of 

 the body. 



