10 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF ANIMALS 



situated on the superior borders of the articular processes 

 of each of the vertebrae of the lumbar region. Apropos of 

 these different osseous processes, we arc reminded that they 

 are also present in the human skeleton. 



In the horse the costiform processes of the fifth and sixth 

 lumbar vertebrje articulate, and are sometimes ankylosed, 

 one with the other ; the terminal ones articulate with the base 

 of the sacrum. Sometimes the processes of the fourth and 

 fifth are thus related ; this is the case in the figure (4) given ; 

 here the costiform processes of the fourth and fifth vertebrae 

 articulate, and the two terminal ones have coalesced. 



In the ox, the same processes are more developed than in 

 the horse ; their summits elevating the skin, produce, 

 especially in animals which have not much flesh, prominences 

 which limit the flanks in the superior aspect. The costiform 

 processes of the last lumbar vertebrae are separate from each 

 other ; those of the latter are not in contact with the sacrum. 



The Sacrum.* — This bone, single and median, is 

 formed by the mutual coalescence of several vertebrae, which 

 vary in number according to the species observed. 



VertehrcB Constituting the Sacrum. — Bears, 5 ; dogs, 3 ; 

 cats, 3 ; rabbits, 4 ; swine, 4 ; horses, 5 ; camels, 4 ; 

 oxen, 5 ; sheep, 4. 



The sacrum is situated between the two iliac bones ; with 

 which it articulates, and contributes to the formation of the 

 pelvis. It is obliquely placed, from before backwards, and 

 from below upwards ; immediately behind the lumbar 

 section of the vertebral column ; and is continued by the 

 coccygeal vertebrae, which form the skeleton of the tail. 



It is triangular in outline, and is generally more narrow in 

 proportion than in the human being. All things considered, 

 it is more large and massive, and of greater density, in species 

 which sometimes assume the upright posture, rather than in 



* In human anatomy, the sacrum and the coccyx are studied as part 

 of the pelvis ; we, therefore, in the study of the artistic anatomy of 

 man, study these bones with the bones of the lower hmbs. Here we do 

 not follow this plan. In animals the sacrum and the coccyx, as a matter 

 of fact, clearly continue the superior border of the skeleton of the trunk ; 

 hence we study them with the vertebral column. 



