8 



MAMMALIAN ANATOMY 



and forms a support for the softer parts. So essential is the skeleton 

 that if it were possible to remove the softer non-skeletal parts, no 

 change in the form or size of the body would be perceptible. 



The term skeleton, 1 in this sense, is rarely used ; it often refers 

 merely to the bones, cartilages, and ligaments, the fibrous frame- 

 work of the body being regarded as part of the various organs. It 

 is usually further restricted to the bones and the few cartilages found 

 connected with them after the processes of maceration, cleaning, and 

 drying. It is in this last sense that it is used in the present volume. 



PARTS OF THE SKELETON. 



The bony skeleton is divided into the Axial Skeleton and the 

 Appendicular Skeleton. 



The axial skeleton comprises the one hundred and thirty-six bones 

 of the head and trunk. 



The appendicular skeleton comprises the one hundred and sixty- 

 four bones of the two pairs of limbs. 



THE REGIONS OF THE SKELETON. 



The bones of the axial skeleton are distributed throughout the 

 different regions as follows : 



In the head, forty-three bones. 



In the vertebral column, fifty-nine bones. 



In the chest, thirty-four bones. 



1 (Gr.) a dried body. 



