STRUCTURE OF THE VERTEBRAL COLUMN. 471 
should be the same in all the Mammalia ; even the long¬ 
necked Giraffe having only seven, while the Whale, whose 
head seems to be joined to its body without the intervention 
of any neck, also has seven cervical vertebrae, although they 
are almost as thin as a sheet of paper. It is owing to the 
small number of joints in its neck, that the movements of the 
head of the Giraffe are far less graceful than those of the 
Swan and other long-necked Birds, in which the number of 
cervical vertebrae is much greater. The following table shows 
the number of vertebrae in animals of different groups. 
Cervical. 
Dorsal. 
Lumbar. 
Sacral. 
Coccygeal. 
Total. 
Mammalia. 
Man . 
7 
12 
5 
5 
4 
33 
Long-tailed Monkey. 
7 
12 
7 
3 
31 
60 
Lion . 
7 
13 
7 
3 
26 
56 
Long-tailed Opossum ... 
7 
16 
6 
2 
36 
67 
Long-tailed Ant-Eater... 
7 
16 
3 
6 
40 
72 
Elephant. 
7 
20 
3 
4 
27 
61 
Giraffe ... 
7 
14 
5 
4 
18 
48 
Whale . 
7 
15 
9 
1 
27 
59 
Birds. 
Vulture . 
15 
7 
_ 
13 
6 
41 
Swallow . 
13 
_ 
10 
7 
37 
Turkey. 
14 
7 
— 
15 
6 
42 
Ostrich . 
18 
9 
_ 
19 
9 
55 
Crane . 
17 
10 
— 
15 
6 
48 
Swan... 
23 
11 
— 
16 
8 
58 
Reptiles. 
Tortoise .. 
9 
10 
_ 
3 
20 
42 
Monitor (Lizard) .. 
6 
21 
2 
2 
115 
146 
Python (Boa) .. 
_ 
320 
_ 
_ 
102 
422 
Rattle-Snake. 
_ 
171 
_ 
_ 
36 
207 
Land Salamander. 
1 
14 
_ 
1 
26 
42 
Axolotl . 
2 
18 
— 
42 
62 
Fishes. 
Perch . 
_ 
21 
— 
_ 
21 
42 
Mackerel.... 
— 
15 
— 
— 
16 
31 
Trichiurus . 
— 
60 
— 
— 
100 
160 
Salmon . 
— 
34 
— 
— 
22 
56 
Cod . 
— 
19 
— 
— 
34 
53 
Conger Eel. 
— 
60 
— 
— 
102 
162 
Electric Eel .. 
— 
— 
.— 
— 
— 
236 
Shark . 
— 
95 
— 
— 
270 
365 
We see from the above table, that it is by the multiplica¬ 
tion of the coccygeal vertebrae, that the tail is prolonged in 
those animals which possess it. In fact, it is only in Man, 
and in those of the Ape tribe which approach nearest to him, 
that the number of these vertebrae is as low as 4. 
