PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION F. 571 



The condition described by Turner, in which there is a hiatus on 

 each side immediately behind the superior articular processes, occurs- 

 (Fig. 23) in a very young aboriginal subject, whose remains were found 

 at Garra, in the Pinnaroo district. Unfortunately, the detached piece 

 was not found, but it is clear from the condition of the facets of the 

 first sacral vertebra, which is separate, that the inferior articular pro- 

 cesses of the fifth lumbar were present. 



This is not all. I have been able to demonstrate all variations 

 of the sacrum from four normal pieces, through four and a half, five, 

 five and a half, to six. On this subject Sir William Turner wrote to 

 me in 1903, " I propose to give the notes on the sacrum to Professor 

 Cunningham for the Journal of Anatomy and Physiology. I have seen 

 the condition found in these specimens in the sacrum of Europeans,. 

 but the very interesting modification in the position of the lumbar 

 transverse is new to me." The specimens are described in the Journal 

 of Anatomy and Physiology, vol. xxxvii., p. 359. 



I have to describe two other anomalous conditions in aboriginals 

 which occur in connection with the sacro-iliac synchondrosis. In one 

 specimen the part of the iUum that bears the auricular surface is con- 

 tinued " backwards " in such a way as to cover and fit into one of the 

 digital depressions on the posterior surface of the transverse process- 

 of the second vertebra of the sacrum, with which it forms a synchon- 

 drosis. In another specimen (Fig. 24) the supernumerary facet on the- 

 sacrum is not in a depression. It is oval in form, its axes being 12 mm. 

 and 10 mm. respectively, and the margin being 10 mm. from the " au- 

 ricular surface." This is on the right side. On the left side the 

 diameters are 10 mm. and 5 mm., and the facet is 6 mm. distant. These 

 facets are on the junction of the transverse process of the first and 

 second vertebrae. 



In two recent skeletons I have found, in the transverse processes- 

 of the lumbar vertebrge, all transitional stages, from the extreme in- 

 stance mentioned to the ordinary and normal condition. It is some- 

 what remarkable that in a race in which no such abnormalities had 

 ever been described we should find not only every known variation 

 of the sacrum and the lumbar vertebrse, but also some conditions that 

 have never been recorded in human anatomy. This shows the 

 importance of examining everything. 



The Spine. — As regards the single spinous process in the cervical 

 vertebrse, said to be a simian feature in the aboriginal, my observations 

 show that the ordinary bifid form is not uncommon. 



The chief interest connected with the spine, considered as a whole, 

 lies in the curves it exhibits. The largest amount of investigation on 

 this subject has been done by Professor Cunningham, who has published 

 an extensive memoir in which he shows that the Australians and Tas- 

 raanians, Andamanese, bushmen, and negroes hold an intermediate- 

 place between the Simiidse and the whites. There is a great want of 

 suitable materials for this important study — suitable materials meaning 

 spines of subjects of different ages, especially with the ligaments intact. 



