TIIK YKin'KllHM. i'dl.1 M.\. o;, 



from the second to the tenth vertebra, the summit of the spinous process is 

 large and tuberculous ; in the last seven it is flattened laterally. Their 

 obliquity is less marked as they proceed backwards; in the sixteenth and 

 seventeenth vertebra, the spinous process is nearly vertical; it inclines 

 slightly forward in the eighteenth. Those of the tenth, eleventh, and 

 twelfth vertebra are slightly curved like an S. 4. The >//</// processes, 

 from the first to the tenth vertebra, gradually contract and approach the 

 median line; in the succeeding vertebra they, on the contrary, incr 

 and In-come concave and wider apart from those of the opposite side. 

 5. The volume of the transverse processes and the size of their diarthrodial 

 ta diminish from before to behind. In the three first vertebrae this 

 facet is concave ; in the first nine the articular facet looks outwards and 

 backwards, while the facet on the body looks forwards; in the last the two 



- arc directed forwards. These two facets are generally confounded in 

 the seventeenth and eighteenth vertebrte. The first dorsal vertebra much 

 resembles the prominens; it is distinguished from it, however, by the 

 presence of four diarthrodial facets on its extremities. It also differs from 

 the other vertebras by the shortness of its spinous process, which terminates 

 in a point ; by the size and prominence of its articular processes ; and by the 

 depth of its notches. The last vertebra never has facets on the contour of 

 its posterior cavity. 1 



3. Lumbar Vertebra 3 .. 



GENERAL CHARACTERS. A little longer and wider than the dorsal vertebras, 

 which they resemble in the arrangement of their bodies, these vertebrae arc 

 characterised : 1, By their short, thin, and wide spinous processes, which 

 are slightly inclined forwards, and are provided at their summits with a 

 scabrous tubercle; 2, By their largely developed transverse processes, 

 flattened above and below, and directed horizontally outwards; 2 3, By the 

 salient 'in/> /// (irticular processes, hollowed out on each side, and provided 



nally with a tubercle for insertion; 4, By their equally prominent 

 posterior articular processes, rounded in the form of a half-hinge. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. The characteristics which may serve to distinguish 

 these vertebne from one another are derived from the body, and the spinous 

 and trauverse processes. 1. From the first to the last there is a progressive 

 diminution in the vertical diameter of the bodies, and un increase in their 

 transverse diameter. The inferior spine on the body becomes shorter and 

 wider from the first to the last vertebra; in the six vertebra) it resembles an 

 elongated triangle whose summit is directed forwards. 2. The spinous 

 processes decrease in width from before to behind, and their anterior 

 border becomes more and more concave; their summits are thickened and 

 tuberculous in the three first, and thin and sloping forward in the three 

 l;t-t. 3. The transverse processes are longer in the middle vei ; 

 than in those placed before and behind. The processes in the first and 



1 In well-formed horses, it is not uncommon to tind nineteen ilnr-al \, -rt< 1 r.e. with an 

 equal iiumlxT of nl>>; though in these in- tunce.s then- utv in r-t frequently only live 

 lumbar vert.-br.-i-. BaMm Mid GoabMX have .-"inn-times met with nineteen, ami the 

 normal niimlM-r in tlie other rc-{jin.s. Sum-times there are only 



Vt-rl' 



* It ha> been corn-.-tly stated that tli . processes arc the rvpn smtative.s of rmli- 

 ni'iitars rl>s which h;i\e Income unit .1 to tho vertebra;. Therefore it i that tl. 

 frt<jU" -iitly tlcbijjuuUid r<w/// 



