CHAPTER II 

 THE SKELETON 



The material for the study of the skeleton in this course 

 should comprise articulated and disarticulated skeletal material 

 of both rabbit and man. It is an excellent plan to supply each 

 student with a box containing the disarticulated skeleton of a 

 rabbit. The student should master the skeleton as a whole in 

 order to get the relation of the principal groups of bones and 

 the principal bones themselves to each other and to the osseous 

 framework of the body. Students often make the mistake of 

 beginning the study of the skeleton by concentrating on single 

 bones instead of mastering a whole group and then the various 

 bones which comprise that group. Although there is some 

 difference of opinion concerning the grouping of certain 

 bones, anatomists are in agreement on the basis for the major 

 groups. Spalteholtz considers the bones in five major groups: 

 Head, trunk, pelvis, superior extremity (superior Hmb and 

 girdle), and inferior limb and girdle); while Gray groups the 

 bones into an axial skeleton (including the hyoid) , appendicular 

 skeleton, and auditory ossicles. The method employed in this 

 work is intended to give the student the relation of the various 

 bones in each group to each other as well as the relation of the 

 various groups to each other and to the entire skeleton. More 

 of the details of the topography of the bones and their functional 

 relations will be considered under C of this chapter. 



The principal functions of the skeleton are support, by 

 furnishing attachment for muscles and ligaments, and protec- 

 tion, by covering or overlying vital structures, such as, the 

 brain, thoracic viscera, and arteries. 



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