RUMINAXTIA PECTORAL LIMB. 103 



better marked, and the inferior foramina larger. The sacral cornua are large, 

 and expanded tor ligamentous attachment ; the spinal canal is oval, and the 

 convex articular portion of the body large, the articular processes being widely 

 separated by a triangular opening leading into the canal. The transverse 

 processes are short, thick, and non-articular anteriorly ; their external extremi- 

 ties are bounded by a vertical border, the inferior angle of which is directed 

 downwards, giving a deeper surface for articulation with the ilium. 



The coecygeal bones, from 15 to 20 in number, are strong and tuberous. 

 Articular processes exist in the anterior ones. 



THORAX. 



Very generally the ruminants have 13 pairs of ribs, of which 8 are true 

 and 5 false. They are straight, broad, long, and more uniform than those of 

 the horse ; the superior extremity is large and smooth, the necks of the 

 anterior ones short and thick, and the tubercles large ; the necks of the 

 posterior ones are long and thin, and smaller than in the horse. The angles 

 are not well marked ; the distal extremities are expanded to articulate with 

 their cartilages by means of true joints. 



The sternum is large and flattened, consisting of seven pieces, which, the 

 anterior one excepted, unite by ossification ; and between the first segment or 

 manubrium and the second there is, in the larger ruminant, a true joint. The 

 superior surface is concave, forming the floor of the chest, the inferior convex, 

 but slightly concave from side to side. The borders present between each t\vo 

 segments articular depressions for the costal cartilages. The cariniform 

 cartilage is small and conical, the ensiform large and circular. 



PECTORAL LIMB. 



The scapula is large and very triangular. The spine does not, as in the 

 horse, terminate gradually in the neck, but by an abrupt angle, prolonged to 

 a point, the acromion process. The neck is more distinct, and the coracoid 

 process and glenoid cavity are both small, and placed close together. In the 

 humcrus (Fig. 25. ), the bicipital groove is single ; the external trochanter 

 is very large, with its summit curved over the bicipital groove. The head is 

 large, the tuberosities small, and the shaft less twisted, than in the horse. The 

 radius is short ; the ulna, longer and larger than in the horse, extends to the 

 distal end of the radius, and articulates with the cuneiform bone. There are 

 two radio-ulnar arches, connected by a deep fissure. It is important to note 

 here the fact that the development of the ulna, and to some extent its freedom, 

 are directly proportional to the number of digits possessed by the animal. 



The carpus consists of 6 bones, 4 above and 2 below. The upper are the 

 scaphoid and lunar, which articulate with the radius ; the cuneiform, articulat- 

 ing with the radius and ulna ; and the trapezium, which is small, tuberous in 

 shape, and does not articulate with the radius. The lower are the os magnum 

 and unciform, which articulate with the large metacarpal bone, the trapezoid 

 and pisiform bones being wanting; the former, perhaps, is part of the os 

 magnum. 



The large metacarpal bone presents a vertical groove down its anterior 

 middle, which marks the original division of the bone into two. The inferior 

 extremity is divided by a deep fissure into two articulations, each resembling 



