580 MR. ST. GEORGE MIVART ON THE [June 27, 
from the whole of the Anthropoidea, which last have much uniformity 
of structure, aud may be characterized as follows :— 
ANTHROPOIDEA. 
Cervical vertebrze always short; atlas with the extremities of its 
transverse processes always bent upwards, and its two posterior arti- 
cular surfaces always separated by an interval ; transverse processes of 
the fifth cervical vertebra always bifurcating; ribs sometimes as few as 
eleven pairs, but never more than fourteen ; lumbar vertebrze scarcely 
ever more than seven*; increase in breadth of the bodies of the poste- 
rior as compared to the anterior dorsal vertebree generally consider- 
able; third, fourth, fifth, and sixth cervical vertebra always with di- 
stinct neural spines ; sternum sometimes formed of as few as two bones 
in the adult ; neurapophyses never perforated by the spinal nerves. 
The first family, Hominide, possesses many characters in common 
with the Simiine; in fact, were we to consider the spinal structure 
only, the Simiine would be united to the Hominide, or would rank 
as a family by themselves, so widely do they differ from the rest of 
the Simide. 
HoMINID& AND SIMIINZ&. 
A more or less perceptible sigmoid curve in the spinal column ; the 
vertebral artery sometimes grooves, sometimes perforates the neural 
arch of the atlas; dorsal vertebree normally twelve; thirteen, or four- 
teen; no dorsal or lumbar neural spines forwardly directed; lumbar 
transverse processes short and never bent ventrally ; metapophyses 
and anapophyses but very little developed+; sacrum large and solid, 
always consisting of four vertebre at the least, and tapering gra- 
dually backwards ; caudal vertebrae never more than seven, and de- 
stitute of complete neural arches, metapophyses, anapophyses, and 
hypapophyses, and always decreasing in length from before back- 
wards; sternum broad and short, often with only one bone between 
the manubrium and the xiphoid cartilage; spine of axis generally 
more or less distinctly bifid or trifid; imerease in antero-posterior 
diameter of spinous processes (as we survey the spine from before 
backwards) at its minimum ; last sacral vertebra with its neural arch 
generally imperfect. 
HomINIpD&. 
Spinal column with a strongly marked sigmoid curve ; dorsal and 
lumbar vertebree together seventeen in number ; transverse processes 
of dorsal and lumbar vertebree inclined upwards (backwards) ; lumbar 
transverse processes arising at a high level, through elongation of the 
crura of the neural archest ; metapophyses not distinct before the 
* De Blainville mentions a Baboon with eight lumbar vertebrae. 
+ Prof. Owen, in his interesting ‘ Memoir on the Gorilla,’ recently published, 
gives as the most conspicuous osteological characters of his group Pithecina (my 
Simiine) “the great relative breadth and flatness of the sternum, the reduction 
of the caudal vertebrae to a non-projecting ‘ os coccygis,’ and the feeble met- and 
anapophyses in the lumbar vertebre.” See ‘Memoir on the Gorilla,’ 1865, p. 46. 
t Noticed by Prof. Owen, ‘ Trans. Zool. Soe.’ vol. iv. p. 105. 
