2 THE ARTISTIC x\NATOMY OF ANIMALS 



which fohow ? We do not think so. Plastic human 

 anatomy having been previously studied in special works,* 

 we take it for granted that these have been studied before 

 undertaking the subject of comparative anatomy. We 

 will therefore not occupy time with the elementary facts 

 relative to the skeleton and the superficial layer of muscles. 

 We will not dilate on the division of the bones into long, 

 short, large, single, paired, etc. All these preliminary 

 elements we shall suppose to have been already studied. 



This being granted, it is, nevertheless, necessary to take 

 a rapid bird's-eye view of organized beings, and to recall the 

 terms used in their classification. 



Animals are primarily classed in great divisions, based 

 on the general characters which differentiate them most. 

 These divisions, or branches, allow of their being so grouped 

 that in each of them we find united the individuals whose 

 general structure is uniform ; and under the n?me of verte- 

 brates are included man and the animals with which our 

 studies will be occupied. The vertebrates, as the name 

 indicates, are recognised by the presence of an interior 

 skeleton formed by a central axis, the vertebral column, 

 round which the other parts of the skeleton are arranged. 



The vertebrate branch is divided into classes : fishes, 

 amphibians or batrachians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. 



The mammals — from the Latin mamma, a breast — are 

 characterized by the presence of breasts designed for the 

 alimentation of their young. Their bodies are covered with 

 hair, hence the name pilifcres proposed by Blainville ; and, 

 notwithstanding that in some individuals the hairs are few, 

 the character is sufficient to distinguish them from all other 

 vertebrates. 



We find united in this class animals which, at first, seem 

 out of place, such as the whale and the bat ; and, from their 

 external appearance alone, the former would appear to 



* Mathias-Duval, ' Precis of Anatomy for the Use of Artists' : Paris, 

 1881. 'Artistic Anatomy of the Human Bo'ly,' third edition, plates by 

 Dr. Fau, text with figures by Edouard Cuyer : Paris, 1896. 'Artistic 

 Anatomy of Man,' by J. C. L. Sparkes, second edition, text with 50 plates : 

 Bailliere, Tindall and Cox, London, 1900. 



