STRUCTURE OF THE VERTEBRAL COLUMN. 471 
should be the same in all the Mammalia ; even the long- 
- necked Giraffe having only seven, while the Whale, whose 
head seems to be joined to its body without the intervention 
of any neck, also has seven cervical vertebre, although they 
are almost as thin as a sheet of paper. It is owing to the 
small number of joints in its neck, that the movements of the 
head of the Giraffe are far less graceful than those of the 
Swan and other long-necked Birds, in which the number of 
cervical vertebre is much greater. The following table shows 
_ the number of vertebre in animals of different groups. 
Cervical. | Dorsal. | Lumbar. | Sacral. |Coceygeal.| Total. 
Mam™Matia. 
sseseesneeasseseenes esses 7 12 5 5 2 33 
Long-tailed Monkey...... 7 12 7 3 31 60 
Sictenaeddonensencusenctese 7 13 7 3 26 56 
Long-tailed os 7 16 6 2 36 67 
Long-tailed Ant-Eater ... 7 16 3 6 40 72 
Elephant ........-...2+..0«000 7 20 3 4 27 61 
REIS iesweycssdececrasccescce 7 14 5 4 18 48 
ee 7 15 9 1 27 59 
Brmps. 
TWRIEETC  ccicseccc ccc ces coc nce 15 7 - 13 6 41 
SS 2 ae 13 7 _ 10 7 37 
own ~ Ae EEE a 14 7 _ 15 6 42 
bleed ans oseéca cocdse 18 9 _- 19 9 55 
TAME creseeerecreceesee erence 17 10 os 15 6 48 
Swan 23 11 = 16 8 58 
: REPTILEs. 
Tortoise .....--0+e0eereeesoes 9 10 _ 3 20 42 
asi dsconeion 6 21 2 2 115 bn 
'ython (Boa) ............00 — 320 _ _ 102 
Rattle-Snake ............... == 171 _ — 36 207 
Land Salamander ........ 1 14 _ 1 26 42 
. es ae 18 _ = 42 62 
FPIsHEs. 
INI Ghisceincceceresbectcoe a 21 _ a 21 42 
Mackerel ..........0<se0scsss- _ 15 —_ _ 16 31 
2 ae — 60 — — 100 160 
Salmon «2.22. scone nee nee eee _ % — = 22 56 
er _ 19 = — 34 53 
Conger Eel .................. _— 60 — ~ 102 162 
"Electric Eel ............-s. _ _- _ _ — 236 
EE: “adatintain teetectekeces _ 95 _ a 270 365 
_ We see from the above table, that it is by the multiplica- 
tion of the coccygeal vertebra, that the tail is prolonged in 
_ those animals which possess it. In fact, it is only in Man, 
and in those of the Ape tribe which approach nearest to him, 
_ that the number of these vertebrz is as low as 4. 
