RIBS 



RICARDO 



701 



vrhich point the rib passes forwards and outwards, 

 ultimately curving inwards to join its costal car- 

 tilage. The upper border of the rib is thick and 

 rounded, while the lower border is marked by a 

 deep groove, which lodges the intercostal vessels 

 and nerve. 



The ribs of Mammals are mostly connected, as in 

 man, with the bodies of two vertebne, and with the 

 transverse processes of the posterior one. In the 

 Monotremata, however, they articulate with the 

 vertebral bodies only ; while in the Cetacea the 

 posterior ril>s hang down from the transverse pro- 

 cesses alone. Their number on each side corre- 

 sponds with that of the dorsal vertebrae. The 

 greatest number, twenty-three, occurs in the two- 

 toed sloth, while in the Cheiroptera eleven is the 

 ordinary number. In Birds each rib articulates by 

 means of a small head with the body of a single 

 vertebra near its anterior border, and with the 

 corresponding transverse process by means of the 

 tubercle. Moreover, each rib possesses a ' diverging 

 appendage,' which projects backwards over the 

 next rib, so as to increase the consolidation of the 



Fig. 2. A Front View of the Articulations of the Ribs 

 with the Spinal Column : 



1, 1, dorsal Yertebrw ; 2, 2, intervertebral cartilages; 8, 3, 

 anterior common ligament ; 4, neck, and 5 head of rib ; 6, 7, 

 8, flat bundles of ligamentou* fibres (removed in the lowest 

 rib, shown In the flgure ) ; 9, articulation between the tubercle 

 of the ribs and the transverse vertebral process. 



thoracic framework, necessary for flying. The 

 dorsal vertebra here never exceed eleven, and are 

 commonly seven or eight in number, and the ribs 

 proceeding from them are connected with the ster- 

 num not i>y cartilage, as in mammals, but by true 

 osseous sternal ribs, which are regularly articulated 

 at one end with the sternum, and at the other 

 with the termination of the spinal ribs. In the 

 Chelonian Reptiles the ribs (as well as the vertebra 

 ami the sternum) deviate remarkably from the 

 normal type, the lateral parts of the carapace 

 consisting mainly of anchylosed ribs united by 

 dermal [Hates. In the Crocodiles there are only 

 twelve pair of true or dorsal ribs ; while in the 

 other Saurians, and in the Ophidians, the ribs are 

 usually very numerous. In the Frogs there are no 

 true ribs, the reason probably being that any 

 bony element in their thoracic walls would interfere 

 with the enormous thoracico-abdominal enlarge- 

 ment which these animals periodically undergo at 

 the breeding period. 



In the language of tiie comparative anatomist, 

 a rib U to be regarded as a Pleurapophysis one of 

 the elements of a typical Vertebra (q.v.). 



Fracture of the Bibs is a very common surgical 

 accident, resulting from blows or falls upon the 

 cheat. Ililis may, moreover, l>c broken by mere 



pressure, as when persons are severely crushed in 

 a crowd ; and instances are on record in which, 

 in the case of aged persons, the ribs have been 

 actually fractured in violent coughing. The 

 treatment consists in the application of a broad 

 flannel roller round the chest, so tightly as to 

 prevent, as far as possible, all movement of the 

 ribs, and to render the respiration abdominal rather 

 than thoracic. The bandage must be prevented 

 from falling by the addition of shoulder-straps ; 

 and in order to prevent the shoulder-blade from 

 moving, and thus disturbing the broken ribs, some 

 surgeons confine the arms to the side of the body. 

 If one or both of the extremities of the fractured 

 rib should perforate both layers of the pleura and 

 wound the lung, or in rare cases when only the 

 parietal layer of the pleura is injured, if the skin 

 is also perforated, air may escape in the act of 

 inspiration from the lung or from the exterior 

 into the pleural cavity, and thence through the 

 wound in the costal pleura into the cellular or 

 areolar tissue of the trunk, giving rise to Emphy- 

 sema (q.v.), in the form of a soft puffy swelling 

 that crepitates and yields on pressure. 



Ricardo, DAVID, an eminent political econo- 

 mist, was born in London, 19th April 1772. His 

 father was a Jew, a member of the Stock Ex- 

 change, and brought up his son to the same 

 business. An alienation took place tetween them, 

 when in 1793 young Kicardo married out of the 

 Jewish persuasion and conformed to the Christian 

 religion. He continued, however, to follow his 

 father's profession with such success that at a very 

 early age he realised a large fortune, while pre- 

 serving an honourable reputation throughout his 

 career in business. 



In 1799 Ricardo had his interest in political 

 economy awakened by the perusal of Smith's 

 Wealth of Nations. His experience had well fitted 

 him for the treatment of the special class of econo- 

 mic questions connected with banking and finance, 

 and it was in the discussion of them that he first 

 made his mark. In 1809 he brought out a pam- 

 phlet entitled The High Price of Bullion a Proof 

 of the Depreciation of Bank-notes. As the title 

 indicates, it was an argument in favour of a 

 metallic basis. Other successful pamphlets followed. 

 In 1817 appeared the work on which his reputation 

 as an economist chiefly rests, On the Principles of 

 Political Economy and Taxation. It is not a com- 

 plete treatise on political economy, but may be 

 described as a discussion of some of the principal 

 factors of the science, such as value, wages, rent, 

 &c. Ricardo is the conspicuous example of the 

 abstract method of political economy. He was 

 very deficient in the philosophic and historical 

 training necessary for the wider investigation of 

 economics. He approached the subject as a 

 member of the Stock Exchange ; and the econo- 

 mic conditions which he contemplated were those 

 prevalent in his own day in England and in coun- 

 tries similarly situated, and particularly in the 

 city of London. The main gist of his work 

 is to embody economic principles in formulas, 

 which for the most part nave a general validity 

 relative to the limited conditions which he thus 

 recognised. His theories of Rent (q.v.) and of 

 Wages (q.v.) have a general truth when regarded 

 in this way ; but when considered from a wider 

 historical and philosophic standpoint they shrink 

 greatly in significance. His theory of Value (q.v.) 

 is still more defective. 



In 1819 Ricardo entered parliament as member 

 for Portarlington, and retained his seat till his 

 death at Gatcomb Park, Gloucestershire, on llth 

 September 1823. He was too diffident to be an 

 effective speaker, but his speeches, especially on 

 matters of trade and finance, which he had made 



