378 



(type „6?") this was shown most plainly in the rudimentary condition 

 of the 12th rib. The 12th rib was considered as rudimentary when 

 less than two inches in length and forming no part of the true tho- 

 racic wall. This occurred in 17 bodies (28 7o of the total number). 



Type "c" represents a form in which the shortening of the verte- 

 bral column was marked, in addition to the rudimentary condition of 

 the 12th rib, by the loss of a sacral vertebra. In column "6" are 

 recorded two instances in which the twenty-fourth vertebra was of the 

 sacral instead of the lumbar type, and one instance in which the twenty- 

 ninth vertebra was of the coccygeal type. 



In column "a" are recorded three instances in which the nine- 

 teenth vertebra was of the lumbar type, the twenty -fourth of the 

 sacral type and in two of the three instances the twenty-ninth of the 

 coccygeal type. This represents the extreme form of reduction in 

 length of the vertebral column. All three instances occurred in ne- 

 groes, twice in males, once in a female. Of the total number of the 

 cases in which there was a tendency to a reduction of the vertebral 

 column, 16 (69,5 "/o)? occurred in negro and 7 (30,5 7o) in white 

 subjects; 13 (56,5 "/o) in male and 10 (43,5 7o) iß female subjects. In 

 one instance (type „(^") there was found a cervical rib on each side 

 of the 7th vertebra. Though the number of cases studied is too small 

 to make percentages of much value, it is suggestive to note a greater 

 frequency of costo-vertebral reduction in white subjects and in females. 

 Of the forty-four negroes examined, sixteen (36,4 7o) showed costo- 

 vertebral reduction; of the fifteen Avhite subjects, seven (46,7 7o)- Of 

 the forty-one male bodies examined, thirteen (31,7 ^/o) showed costo- 

 vertebral reduction; of the eighteen female bodies, ten (55,5 7o)0- 



In order to see if size and general development played a part I 

 have compared the heights of twenty-seven adult bodies in which the 

 condition of the vertebrae was noted last year. The average length of 

 the male bodies with "normal" vertebrae was 165 cm, the minimum 

 being 145 cm, the maximum 175 cm. The average length of the 

 male bodies showing a tendency to shortening of the vertebral column 

 was 163,5 cm, the maximum being 176 cm, the minimum 152,5 cm. 



1) In our dissecting rooms the bodies are divided into blacks, 

 whites and mulattoes. Under "whites" members of almost any European 

 race may be found, in a cosmopolitan city like Baltimore, continually 

 receiving imigrants from some part of Europe. The negroes are de- 

 scendants of the slaves. Of comparatively few of them can it be posi- 

 tively asserted that no white blood exists in their veins. Yet in all 

 the bodies classed as blacks the negro blood greatly predominates. 



