86 PRACTICAL ANATOMY. 



vertebral artery; in the dorsal region their extremities 

 anteriorly present an articulating surface, for articulation 

 with the tubercles of the ribs ; in the lumbar region 

 they are thin and sharp. The articular surfaces consist 

 of two pairs, the superior and inferior. They are situ- 

 ated at the junction of the pedicles with the laminae. 

 The upper ones, in the cervical region, are directed 

 upward, looking slightly backward ; in the dorsal region 

 their faces are directed obliquely backward and upward, 

 becoming, in the lower dorsal and lumbar region, nearly 

 vertical. The inferior pair, in the upper cervical verte- 

 brae, look downward and forward, but in passing down 



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FIG. 35. A CERVICAL VERTEBRA. 



the vertebral column their faces become directed grad- 

 ually more and more forward, looking slightly down- 

 ward ; in the lower dorsal and lumbar regions the plane 

 of the articular surfaces is nearly vertical. A vertebra, 

 as has been seen, consists of a solid segment anteriorly, 

 from the sides and back part of which project the ped- 

 icles, which are continued backward into the laminae, 

 thus forming two lateral arches joined together pos- 

 teriorly, and forming the spinous process. These arches 

 inclose a large foramen, which, in the articulated spine, 

 forms an osseous canal which lodges the spinal cord. 

 The cervical vertebrae are seven in number, and this 



