FUNCTIONS OF LOCOMOTION. 



73 



digestive organs. The vertebral column is composed of a 

 series of small bones called vertebrae. The vertebrae are 



FIG. 40. 



FIG. 40a. 



A VERTEBRA OF THE NECK. 1, 



body; 2, foramen; 4, spinous 

 process, cleft at its extremity; 

 5, transverse process; 7, inferior 

 articulating process; 8, superior 

 articulating process. 



A LUMBAR VERTEBRA. 1, the carti- 

 laginous substance that connects 

 the bodies of the vertebrae; 2, 

 body; 3, spinous process; 4, 4, 

 transverse processes ; 5, 5, articu- 

 lating processes ; 7, foramen. 



placed one on another, and are separated by cushions of 

 fibro-cartilagmous tissue that allows a certain degree of 

 movement to the articulation. Figures 40 and 40a repre- 

 sent two of these small bones. The vertebral column 

 is divided into five regions. In man there are seven 

 vertebrae in the neck, twelve in the back, five in the 

 loins, five others firmly articulated in a single piece in 

 the sacrum, and two or three that are quite rudimentary 

 in the coccyx. In animals, these last are ordinarily 

 much more numerous, much more developed, and form 

 the framework of the tail. 



In man there are twenty-four ribs, twelve on each side 

 of the chest. They are articulated with the vertebrae 

 behind and with the sternum in front, but they are con- 

 nected with the latter only by cartilaginous prolonga- 

 i> 7 



