THE ANATOMY OF THE OX. 35 



foramina are larger. The sacral corniia are large and expanded 

 for the attachment of ligaments. The lumen of the spinal canal 

 is of an oval shape, and the articular portion of the body is large. 

 The transverse processes are short and thick, and their external 

 extremities are bounded by a vertical border, the inferior angle 

 of which is directed downwards. The surfaces which serve to 

 unite the sacrum with the ossa innominata have, in fact, a more 

 or less vertical direction. There are no lateral facets on the 

 base of the sacrum for articulation with the transverse processes 

 of the last lumbar vertebra. In the sheep and goat the sacrum 

 is shorter, and sometimes the spinous processes are not united. 

 The coccygeal vertebrae of ruminants are stronger than those of 

 the horse. They vary in number from fifteen to twenty, and the 

 anterior of them possess rudimentary articular processes. 

 The sacrum of rodents presents certain characters not dissimilar 

 from that of ruminants. As a rule, only one vertebra touches 

 the ilium on each side. No ruminant has a prehensile tail. 

 There are no chevron bones in ruminants ; but the ox has 

 hypopophyses in the tail. 



The Ribs. — As a general rule, ruminants possess thirteen pairs 

 of ribs, of which eight are true and five false. The pig has 

 fourteen pairs of ribs. They are straight, and broader, longer, 

 less markedly arched, and more uniform than are the ribs of 

 solipeds. The superior extremity is large and smooth. The 

 necks of the foremost ribs are short and thick, and their tubercles 

 are large. The necks of the posterior ribs are very long and 

 thin, and also they are smaller than, in the horse. The angles 

 are not very marked, and the front extremities • are expanded so 

 as to articulate with their cartilages by means of true joints 

 (diarthrodial articulations). In the last rib, and sometimes also 

 in the last but one, the tuberosity is scarcely perceptible, and it 

 has no articular facet. In the sheep and goat the sternal ribs 

 are united with the cartilages. 



The Sternum. — The sternum of the domesticated animals, 

 except solipeds, is flat both above and below, instead of from 

 side to side. The superior surface is concave, forms the floor 

 of the chest ; the inferior is convex, but slightly concave from 

 side to side. On the borders between each two segments are 

 articular depressions for the costal cartilages. The cariniform 

 cartilage is small and conical, while the ensiform cartilage is 



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