THE LIGAMENTS OF THE PROCESSES 117 



and surrounding in the centre a soft, pulpy mass. The lamina* 

 are not composed of different materials, but owe their differ- 

 ence in appearance to the fact that they are obliquely placed, 

 crossing each other like an X, and the light strikes them differ- 

 ently; some fibers run horizontally. The most external fibers 

 resemble those of a tendon. 



The central part is pulpy, soft, and yellow, containing cells 

 in a fibrous matrix; it rises up conically when pressure is 

 removed. The intervertebral disks are compressible, and, 

 according to one set of measurements, a man is | inch taller 

 in the morning than at night. 



The Ligaments of the Laminae 



Those connecting the laminae are the ligamenta sub/lava, 

 of yellow elastic tissue attached to the anterior surface of 

 the lamina above and the posterior surface and upper margin 

 of the lamina below. They are analogous to the intervertebral 

 substances in front. Each ligament consists of two lateral 

 portions, which commence on each side of the root of either 

 articular process and pass to the convergence of the lamina 3 . 

 They do not exist between the occiput and atlas, atlas and 

 axis; they take the place of active material and help muscles 

 pull back the flexed column. 



The Ligaments of the Processes 



The ligaments of the articular processes are capsular, thin, 

 loose sacs attached to their margins and completed internally 

 by the ligamenta subflava. They are lined by synovial mem- 

 brane. 



The interspinous ligaments are thin and membranous, 

 interposed between the spinous processes, each extending from 

 near the root to the summit of each spinous process. They 

 are slightly developed in the neck, narrow in the dorsal region, 

 and thicker in the lumbar. 



The supraspinous ligament is a strong cord connecting the 

 apices of the spinous processes down from the seventh cervical. 

 Its most superficial fibers connect three or four vertebrae and 

 its deepest neighboring vertebrae. 



The ligamentum nuchse continues the supraspinous ligament 



