THE BONY FRAMEWORK 



Joined to the lower end of the sacrum is a little, tapering 

 bone, made up of several little bones, 

 called the coccyx. It is so named from 

 its fancied resemblance to the beak of 

 a cuckoo. 



42. How the Bones of the Spine are 

 arranged. Each bone, or vertebra, of 

 the backbone has a hole within it, and 

 the separate bones are so placed, one 

 above the other, that these holes form 

 a continuous tube or canal, down which 

 passes the spinal cord. Imagine a num- 

 ber of spools placed one on another. 

 The central hole through each would be 

 exactly over the other, and there would 

 be one .long tube or channel through 

 the whole string of spools. In this 

 bony canal the spinal cord lies pro- 

 tected from injury. 



From each vertebra projects a spine 

 or thorn of bone, to which are fas 

 tened muscles which keep the flexible 

 backbone erect and lift the head and 

 shoulders. The row of spines along 

 the whole length of the backbone 

 forms a ridge, which can be easily 

 felt by pressing with the fingers up 

 and down the middle of the back. 



43. The Wonders of the Spine. 

 The spine is built in a most curious 

 and wonderful manner, firm, and 

 yet elastic; so stiff that it will bear 



COCCYX 



FIG. 1 8. The Spinal 

 Column. 



