84 PRACTICAL ANATOMY. 



sides the body is concave from above downward, convex 

 from side to side, and presents numerous foramina for 

 the passage of vessels. Posteriorly it is flattened, 

 slightly concave from side to side, and presents the 

 opening of the sinus of the body, leading into a small 

 cavity which lodges the veins of the body of the ver- 

 tebrae. The opening is frequently double. The ped- 

 icles are two strong processes of bone, laterally somewhat 

 compressed. They project from the upper, outer, pos- 

 terior portion of the body, and are directed obliquely 

 backward and slightly outward and upward. They are 

 deeply notched below, slightly notched above, forming, 

 when articulated with the vertebrae above and below, 

 the intervertebral foramina. The laminae are two strong, 

 plate-like structures, which are continued backward from 

 the pedicles, and are directed downward and inward, 

 joining in the middle line to form the spine of the ver- 

 tebra. Their upper and lower borders are rough, for the 

 attachment of ligaments. The spinous process is formed 

 by the fusion of the two laminae behind. In the dorsal 

 region the spines are directed obliquely downward ; their 

 apices are not cleft, but are more or less tuberous ; the 

 upper border is sharp. In the lumbar region they are 

 strong and broad and are directed horizontally back- 

 ward ; the upper and lower borders are sharp and their 

 extremities rough. In the cervical region the apices of 

 the spines are cleft, and, except the seventh cervical, but 

 little developed. The spinous processes serve for the 

 attachment of muscles. The transverse processes project 

 horizontally outward, in the cervical region, from the 

 junction of the body and the pedicles; in the dorsal and 

 lumbar regions, from the junction of the pedicles and 

 laminae. In the cervical region they are perforated 

 by the vertebral foramen, for the transmission of the 



