LUMBAR VERTEBRA. 149 



The pedicles are very strong, tlic lamella or lamina-;, see page 

 ^39, are thick and narrow. 2. The cartilages between these 

 vertebra are very thick, and render the spine convex withiu 

 the abdomen, by their great thickness anteriorly. 3. The 

 oblique processes are strong and deep ; the superior, which are 

 concave, facing inwards, and the convex inferior ones facing 

 outwards ; and therefore each of these vertebrae receives the 

 one above it, and it is received by the one below, which is not 

 so evident in the other two classes already described. 4. Their 

 transverse processes are small, long, and almost horizontal, for 

 allowing large motion to each bone, and suflicient insertion to 

 muscles, and for supporting and defending the internal parts. 

 5. Between the roots of the superior oblique and transverse, 

 processes, a small protuberance may be observed, where some 

 of the muscles that raise the trunk of the body are inserted. 6. 

 Tlieir spinous processes are strong, straight, and horizontal, with 

 broad flat sides, and a narrow edge above and below ; this last 

 being depressed on each side, by muscles ; and, at the root of 

 these edges, we see rough surfaces for fixing the ligaments. 7. 

 The medullary canal is larger in these bones than in the dorsal 

 vertebrae. 8. The holes for the passage of the nerves are more 

 equally formed out of both the contiguous vertebrae than in the 

 other classes ; the upper one furnishes, however, the larger share 

 of each hole. 



The thick cartilages between these lumbar vertebrce, their 

 deep oblique processes, and their erect spinous processes, are all 

 fit for allowing large motion, though it is not so great as what 

 is performed in the neck ; which appears from comparing the 

 arches that the head describes when moving on the neck or the 

 loins only. 



The lumbar vertebra3, as they descend, have their oblique 

 processes at a great distance from each other, and facing more 

 backward and forwards. 



The transverse and spinal processes of the first and last lumbar 

 vertebrae are shorter than those in the middle. 



The epiphyses round the edges of the bodies of the lumbar 

 vertebra) are most raised in the two lowest ; which conse- 

 13* 



