CHAPTER YIL 



THORAX. 



OSTEOLOGY. 



Dorsal Vertebrae. — Genp:ral characters: Body 

 very short ; head wide and somewhat flattened ; cavi- 

 ty is not deep, two small concave articular surfaces on 

 each side ; superior spinous processes are very high and 

 inclined hackwards ; transverse processes are unituber- 

 cular with a flat diarthrodial facet; the articular 

 facets are situated at tlie base of the spinous process ; 

 the posterior notches are very deep. 



Specific characters. — The vertical diameter in- 

 creases and the lateral diminishes from forward back- 

 wards, the articular surfaces of the body are wider and 

 flatter as they go backwards, the inferior spinous pro- 

 cess is well developed forward, disappears from the 

 sixth to the ninth, reappears and increases to the last, 

 the intervertebral cavities diminish from the first to 

 the last, the superior spinous processes increase to tlie 



