108 THE CANCELLI OF BONES 



pact substance. Inferiorly this lamina is again 

 made to bear on the compact substance by a bun- 

 dle of vertical columns ; the central mass descends 

 vertically for the space of an inch and a half 

 in the direction of the axis of the bone, and 

 then expands into a cone which joins the circum- 

 ference. This cone divides into two masses ; an 

 external stronger one, descending obliquely to the 

 right and left, joins the compact substance of the 

 opposite planes of the bone ; the internal line 

 follows the course indicated by the base of the 

 neck, and limits the triangular space comprised 

 between it and the great fasciculus of support." 1 



This description is too much confused to be 

 understood without the aid of their figure ; and 

 this, it is beh'eved, will be found on comparison 

 with a section of the bone itself to be an inaccu- 

 rate representation of its structure. The descrip- 

 tion is correct, as far as it relates to the fibres 

 which transmit the weight from the head to the 

 under side of the neck, though they are not par- 

 allel ; the " central mass ' I have not been able 

 to make out, and as for that portion which is 

 " out of the line of pressure," it has not a struc- 

 ture different from the adjoining parts, and, like 

 them, it performs an important office in sustain- 

 ing the weight of the body. 



Mr. Ward, in his description of the neck, ap- 



1 Bourgery and Jacob, op. cit., Tome I. p. 118. 



