YBRTEBRAL COLUMN 



59 



The costal element, moreover, is shorter and directed more laterally, 

 and is not divided into cephalic and caudal parts. The transverse 

 element has a more caudal inclination. 



The Fourth Cervical Vertebra (Figs. 29, 30, 31) may be recog- 

 nized by the cephalo-caudal length of its arch, which is greater than 

 the length of the arch of the fifth and less than that of the third. 

 The spinous process is shorter than the spinous process of the fifth, 

 but longer than that of the third. The laminae are but slightly 

 inclined dorsally, and the neural canal is smaller. The caudal border 

 of each lamina is arcuate. At the middle of its dorsal surface, near 

 the border, is a swelling known as the tubercle. The cephalic 

 articular processes are shorter, and their articular surfaces do not 

 face so much toward the middle line. The transverse and costal 

 elements of the transverse process coalesce beyond the arterial canal 



FIG. 32. 



Odontoid Process 

 Cephalic Articular Surface. 



Caudal Articular Process. 



Ligament. 



8CALINU8. 



LONQUS COLLI. 



Transverse Process. 



Neural Spine. 

 THE AXIS, VENTRAL ASPECT. 



through almost their entire extent. The caudal end of the costal 

 element is reduced in size, and the end of the transverse element 

 sometimes appears as an oval tubercle at the ventral caudal part of 

 the lateral surface. The fourth vertebra, as a whole, is transversely 

 narrower than the fifth vertebra, 



The Third Cervical Vertebra (Figs. 29, 30, 31) is easily recognized 

 by the greater cephalo-caudal length of its arch, by the almost 



