473 



second and third vertebrae are fully blended with the adjacent centra 

 dorsally and laterally; but ventrally there is a line marking the cau- 

 dal, but not the cephalic hmit of the centra. The line of the caudal 

 epiphysis of the third vertebra is clear all round, but the disc is not 

 removable. 



Caudal vertebrae. In the bones of the tail there are several 

 points which appear noteworthy. It will be well to consider the con- 

 dition of the vertebrae in the tw^o animals separately. 



In hon No. 1 none of the cephalic epiphyses could be removed, 

 but their limits are clearly visible even as far as the twelfth vertebra. 

 At the seventh bone commence those processes at the cephalic end 

 of the lateral parts of the body which are generally described as 

 being representative of part of the transverse processes. On the 

 apices of these projections are small epiphyses (Fig. 2 1), which, as 

 the processes become smaller, gradually approach the cephalic central 

 epiphysis, with which they fuse at the tenth vertebra. 



The caudal epiphysis of the body is removable in the first nine 

 vertebrae; after which it loses its independence, but can be distinguished 

 as far as the fourteenth vertebra. The well-developed transverse pro- 

 cess of the fourth vertebra carries a small epiphysis on its back- 

 wardly projecting tip. In the fifth and sixth bones, the transverse 

 process becoming smaller, this epiphysis approaches the caudal epi- 

 physis of the centrum, to which it is joined on the seventh vertebra 

 (Fig. 2 2), 



The mammillary process of the fourth vertebra carries a small, 

 somewhat scale-like, separable particle of bone on its apex (Fig. 2 5), 

 Avhich is also present as an independent structure as far as the tenth 

 vertebra, where it joins the cephalic epiphysis of the body. It can 

 be distinguished, however, on the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth 

 bones; after which it is impossible to say that it is represented. 



Those two caudo-dorsal projections which remain after the disap- 

 pearance of the neural arch proper, and which are the vestiges of 

 the arch, carry small, easily separable epiphyses at their summits on 

 the eighth, ninth and tenth vertebraä (Fig. 2 4). At the eleventh 

 bone they unite with the caudal central epiphysis; but their position 

 is indicated for three more vertebrae. 



In the older lion (No. 2) the cephalic epiphyses are indicated by 

 a line which is fairly clear and distinct in the first three or four 

 bones, and then rapidly disappears. Even in the first three bones it 

 is not very obvious laterally. Separate epiphyses for the apices of 

 the representatives of the cephalic portion of the transverse processes 



