270 



THOMAS DWIGHT OX 



'I'.r, 



C'iit. it;;7ii-o2. 



Male, wliite. net. S"). C. 



T. \>l L. n. S. 0. 



C. 3. 



297. 



Tliis spine is ;in iincoiiiiiionly laruo one, and 

 shows signs of extreme old age. The bones are very 

 friable, and in some cases liave nnfortuuatelv suffered 

 (Uu'ing preparation. There is a moderate twist in the 

 liaek, but it perhaps is nothing more than a senile 

 exaggeration of the cui've in the cardiae region. 

 Several of the ribs show united fractures; but it is 

 safe to sav that they did not oeeur in youth, and are 

 too far from the eolunni to be of interest in this eon- 

 neetion. There is, besides the numerical variation, no 

 marked distiu'bance in the ordinary process of de- 

 velo])nu'nt. except that the axis and the -"id vertebra 

 are more or less fused. There is no disc between 

 them; but it is impossible to say whether it may not 

 have disappeared as several others have done ; and the 

 laminae are so intimately fused, especially on the right, 

 as to point to a congenital union. The Ijodies of 

 several others of the cervical vertebrae are ccmnected 

 by bou}' growths, while their arches are (juite distinct. 

 My colleague. Dr. Councilman, Professor of Pathology, 

 agrees with me that the union of the bodies occurred 

 late in life. That of the 2d and 3d. however, I regard 

 as possibly congenital. It is known that these two 

 vei'tebrae have a particular tendency to fuse. There 

 are also several exostoses connecting bodies of verte- 

 brae in the thoracic and lumbar regions. The last 

 lumbar (2()th) is sacralized on the left, and its articu- 

 lar surfaces fused with those below it. On the right 

 the sacrum is fully co-ossified with the ilium. 



in the neck the lowest four vertebrae are con- 

 nected in fi-ont l)y outgrowths from the bodies, 

 especially developed on the right, which have no mor- 



