INTRODUCTION. 



Cervical vertebrae 

 uftheWimle. 



35 prodigious force and rapidity. In the Cetacea, or Whale tribe, 



however, distinguished by the enormous size and weight of 

 their head, which is carried in a continuous line from the body, 

 (the contour of this approximating to that of a fish), nature 

 pursues a different method : here the independent mobility of 

 the head, inasmuch as it is not needed, is circumscribed to 

 the utmost ; and it may be said that there is no neck, the 

 vertebrae (see fig. 35) composing it being consolidated 

 together, and the whole reduced into a compass consistent, 

 indeed, with strength, but not with flexibility : yet is their 

 number usually seven, as in other Mammalia. 



It is curious to compare such a structure with that exhibited by the neck 



of the Giraffe, elongated and swan- 

 like, and surmounted by its small 

 and graceful head (see fig. 36) ; but 

 in each case the necessities of the 

 animal are admirably provided for, 

 and the habits and economy of each 

 are in accordance with its organi- 

 zation. And so it is with Man. 

 His skull, resting on the vertebral 

 column, requires no voluminous 

 muscles to support its weight : he 

 has neither to graze the meadow, 

 nor browse upon the foliage of the 

 trees, nor dart through the waves ; 

 neither does he seize his prey like 

 the Lion. The muscles of the neck, 

 therefore, are comparatively feeble 

 and small, and are adapted solely 

 for giving to the head its true de- 

 gree of motion in various direc- 

 tions : they, however, harmonize 

 with the general contour of the 

 body, and in the athletic are 

 marked and developed. As, to 

 Man alone is given the " os sub- 

 lime," so alone in him has the 

 neck that peculiar form, or " tour- 

 nure," which, while it adds so much to the air of dominion impressed 

 upon the human figure, is accompanied by a variety of minuter differences, 

 seized upon most happily by the ancients, as characteristic of the demi- 

 god, the philosopher, and the gladiator. To feel and understand this, the 



Skeleton of the Giraffe. 



