66 CULPEPER? s ENGLISH PHYSICIAN, 
All thefe vertebrae are hollowed to contain the fj pinal marrow; they are many,. for the 
ednveniency of motion. The figure is fometimes inclining inwards, as. the. verte- 
bree of the neck, to fuftain the gullet; and afpera arteria; and the vertebrae of the 
loins, to uphold the trunks of the aorta, and cava defcending: fometimes outwards, 
“as the vertebr2 of the back, anda little of the os facrum, that there may be a larger 
~ {pace for the heart, Jungs, bladder, anus, womb, &c. The figure of each verte- 
bra, above and below, is plain and broad, that luxation may not eafily be made: 
round within, convex, and bunching out; but in the neck broader, and more even. 
The vertebre of the back are in number twelve, to which as many ribs anfwer. 
Thefe vertebrze are round on the fore-part, but behind fomewhat hollow. They are 
thicker than thofe of the neck, lefs folid, and full of little eis for the pallagery of 
the nourifhing veffels. . 
The vertebrae of the loins are five in number; and belong to the abdenien’t or 
Jower belly: they are thicker and greater than thofe of the breaft, becaufe they 
uphold them, and the lowermoft are biggeft. Their figure is long and femi-circu- — 
“lars their fubftance fpongy, and full of holes to give paflage to the veins;. their 
onnection is loofer than that of the back, that we might the more cally ftoop to the 
‘ground. aoe ie 
The os facrum is broad and immovable, being the bafis or foundation of the back, 
upholding the whole frame of the vertebrae. In infants it is commonly compofed of 
Six bones united by acartilage, but in men of ripe years it feems but one bone, at the 
firft view, yet, being boiled a long time in oil, it is divided for the moft part into 
_ dix feveral vertebrae; for each of them has a body, and procefies, and has a large 
hole to receive the {pinalis medulla; But in this they differ from the other vertebra, 
becaufe in thofe the lower part is the bigger, but in thefe the {maller; wherefore, 
the uppermoft is the biggeft, and the loweft the leaft. Its figure is almoft triangu- 
lars. ini its fore-part hollow, fmooth, and even; in its hinder-part, paneeee as 
r agh, with little holes to fend out nerves. 
The 05 coccygis, the crupper or rump-bone, is under the former, confifting tp shire | 
01 ¢s and two griftles, and is called os coccygis, the cuckoo’s bill, from the likenels 
of. Ivisjoined by a cartilage; for the firft bone of it has a {mall hollowne’s 
which receives the laft vertebra of the os facrum. Of thefe three bones, the loweris 
ftill che fmaller: and i in men, they are bent inwards to ftay the great gut, and the 
fphinéter mufcle which are tied to it: but in women they bend outward to give 
way tothe womb in the time of travail. Thefe bones are of a fpungy. and {oft 
dubftance, and have neither procefs nor any hollownefs. Their union with: the os , 
facram is tonics to ane mee “es the Eseiution of large excrements 5. for. OEE PSR 
iJ (OSROG - oi6 —— Juxation — 
