58 



THE HOUSE I LIVE IN. 



The length of the ribs increases from the 

 first or upper one, till you come to the seventh, 

 which is the longest. From the seventh to 

 the twelfth, they grow shorter again, and the 

 cartilages, of course, become longer in the same 

 proportion. The twelfth rib is very short. 



The number of ribs is almost always twelve ; 

 but sometimes there are only eleven, and at 

 others, thirteen. But instances of more or less 



