CHAPTEE II. 



GENEEAIi DBSCMPTION OP THE SKELETON— ANATOMICAL LANDMAEKS — ABDOMINAL 



TKANSECTION. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP THE SKELETON. 



§ 204. The softer parts of the "body are protected, supported, or 

 enabled to exert themselves to greater mechanical advantage 'by a 

 framework — ^the skeleton. 



The skeleton consists of hones (Ossa), and cartilages {Cartila- 

 gines), which are more or less closely united at sutures {SuturcB\ or 

 movable upon each other at Arthra (joints or articulations). At the 

 arthra and at some of the sutures the undesirable displacement of 

 the parts is checked by bands of inelastic fibrous tissue — the liga- 

 ments {Ligamenta). 



Firmer in texture, more definite in outline, and more constant in 

 form, number and position than most of the soft parts, the bones 

 and cartilages serve as convenient guides to the identification and 

 description of the latter, and therefore naturally precede them as 

 subjects of anatomical study. 



The following general account of the skeleton as a whole is given 

 in advance of the detailed description of the individual bones in 

 order that the directions for certain preliminary operations may be 

 more easUy understood and followed. 



§ 205. Pig. 30.— The skeleton seen from the left. 



This figure has been reduced by photography from that of Straus-Durckheim (A, PI. 

 11), and has been further modified as follows : the dextral costse (ribs) have been omitted 

 for the sake of clearness ; the last costicartilage has been shortened so as to show its actual 

 condition ; the principal bones have been named, and the costae and vertebrae have been 

 numbered ; the shading is likewise altered somewhat. 



§ 206. Like the body as a whole, the skeleton comprises a 

 jyomafo'c ("axial") portion including the bones of the head, neck, 

 thorax, abdomen, pelvis and tail, and a membral ("appendicular") 

 portion, including the bones of the arms and legs. 



