216 



DESCRIPTION OF A SPECDIEN 



Fi" 



■ 5th Cervical Vertebra. 



Mr. Murie's table in the case of the Rosherville whale. I do not remember any account 

 of the aortic impression in the whale ; in this one, however, it is very striking. As the 

 inferior surfaces of the body are more or less concave with prominent borders, it is in the 

 outline of the epiphyses that this depression is most evident. The 10th dorsal vertebra 



is the first in which it is distinct, 

 though there is a suspicion of it 

 in the 8th and 9th. It becomes 

 more developed in the 11th, 12th, 

 and 13th, after which in the 14th 

 and 15th it quite destroys the 

 symmetry of the bone, forming a 

 depression along the left side of 

 the body. It is less marked in 

 the 1st lumbar and barely per- 

 ceptible in the 2d, after which 

 there is no trace of it. 

 The foramina being in a great degree dependent upon modifications of the processes, will 

 be considered separately, as will be also the last few vertebrae. 



Spinous Processes. — These processes are represented by mere ridges in the cervical 

 vertebrae, except the 7th, where there is a decided elevation. In the 3d dorsal it is very 

 much larger and broader than in the 2d, and the 4th presents even a greater increase. 

 After this the difference is less. In the 8th dorsal a slight backward inclination is manifest, 

 which increases with the height (reckoning with the latter that of the body of the ver- 

 tebra), till both reach their maximum in the 12th and loth lumbar. Beyond this point 

 the height rapidly decreases, though a considerable inclination persists. The 14th caudal 

 is the last vertebra which can be said to have a spinous process. The processes are more 

 or less rounded at the top, and the 

 measurements in the 7th column of 

 the table are taken just below the 

 termination, so as in most cases to 

 give the greatest breadth (antero- 

 posteriorly). In the 5th dorsal a 

 posteriorly projecting spine arises 

 from the base of the process, enter- 

 ing the space between the met- 

 apophyses of the following vertebrae. 

 This is at first double, being in serial 

 continuation with the posterior zygapophysis. The bifurcation grows less marked, and ceases 

 near the end of the lumbars ; the spine persists till we reach the 5th caudal, attaining its 

 greatest size towards the posterior end of the lumbar division. To compare this table with 

 Mr. Murie's, it is found that the height of the entire vertebra is with us greatest in the 

 12th lumbar, though about the same in several adjacent vertebra, while in his table the 

 1st caudal springs into sudden preeminence. As to the breadth toward the point of the 

 process it is greatest with us in the 10th lumbar, with him in the 6th lumbar. 



Transverse Processes {Diapophyses). — The inferior transverse processes (parapophyses) 



Fig. 6. — 6tli Cervical Vertebra. 



