280 THOMAS DWKillT OX 



is strongly sacralized on the right, on whicli side it form-; a liirge part of tlie auricular sur- 

 face, but it probably is not the fnlcra/is. On the left it joins the sacrum, but does not 

 articulate with the ilium. It forms with tht- 1st sacral a pair of foramina in the line of the 

 anterior sacral ones. There is but the merest remnant of tissue between tlie bod\- of the 

 24th and tliat of the 1st sacral, while the promontory seems to be above the former. 

 There is an insignificant projection below it. There is probably some bony fusion 

 of the arch of the 24th with that of the vertebra ))el<)\v, bnt the spine is distinct. 

 After the 24th there are four sacral vertebrae, to which is fused the 1st coccygeal, forming 

 a sacral foramen on the left but not on the right. Below this there are three coccj'geal 

 elements. 



It is noteworthy that on the right, on which side the last lumbar seems all but sac- 

 ral, the fifth following piece is less sacral than it is on tlie left. 



This spine is one which has given nie great trouble and furnishes a strong argu- 

 ment against the conception of a vertehvd fulcraJ'is. As has been sliown, the 24th has 

 nothing to do with the ilium on the left, and on the right jtrolxihff/ does not foriu the 

 largest part of the auricular sui'face, and therehjre it is not the fn/cra/i.'^ according to the 

 definition. Unfortunately this spine was not measiu'ed when fresh, but I have measured 

 the front of the bodies of the \ertebrae and compared them with the average of similar 

 measurements on twenty sjjines. The table shows that without counting the 24th verte- 

 bra this spine is 1.7 cm. longer than the average, that the II thoracic vertebrae almost 

 equal the usual 12, and that the lumbar region exceeds the normal one. Indeed the large 

 size of these lumbars is very striking to the eye. Thus, although we must call the 25th 

 the fidcraJh. it is evident that, with the 24th in the sacrum, the spine has shaped itself 

 after the fashion of a normal one. though with [)ra('tically one praesacral too few. 



Average height of Height of bodies 



bodies of 20 sj)ines. of No. 257. 



1.2 



1.2 



Cervical 5 1.2 1.1 



1.3 

 1.5 



b.o cm. 

 1.6 

 1.7 

 1.7 

 1.8 

 Thoracic 5 1.7 1.9 



1.9 

 1.9 

 2.0 



