120 



LECTURE V. 



connected vertebrae called the os sacrum. The pelvis re- 

 presents a funnel-shaped body, curving forwards, upon which, 

 when the body is in an upright position, the intestines partially 

 rest, and to which the thigh bones, which support the whole 

 body, are articulated. 



In the pelvis, as in the skull, the sexual differences are very 

 evident, but they are more distinct in the former, as this part 

 of the skeleton is so immediately connected with parturition. 



Fig. 37. Noi-mal Pelvis of a Male European, front view. 



o. Sacrum, h. Hium. 



c. Acetabulum, 

 ischii. 



d. SjTupliysis pubis, e. Tuber 



The female pelvis is always lighter and thinner than that of 

 the male, and the diaphanous spots in the ilium especially are 

 larger and apparently thinner. In the female, the transverse 

 dimension predominates ; in the male, the longitudinal. The 

 iliac bones are more expanded in the female than in the male. 

 The superior pelvic aperture is nearly heart-shaped in the male ; 

 in the female, it is transversely oviform. The lower aperture 

 is, in every respect, relatively and absolutely larger in the 

 female than in the male. The ischia, as weU as the acetabula 

 for the femur, are more widely separated ; hence, the female 

 thigh has a greater inward inclination than that of the male. 



