MONSTROSITIES. 



87 



The abdominal walls may be only partially developed, 

 and the viscera floating about in the uterus. In other 

 •cases the ribs may be wanting, with only the muscular 

 tissue of the walls present. The ribs may be curved' 

 upwards and inwards, and united above instead of 

 below. The skin may line instead of cover the 

 abdominal cavity. The diaphragm is often absent. A 

 very common monstrosity amongst cattle, consists in 



Fig. 36. 

 Ectopia Cordis: Schistocormus Fissisternalis. 



the spine being curved forwards, the coccygeal vertebrae 

 terminating about the withers, and the ribs springing 

 irom the spine upwards. This condition has received 

 the name of "Schistocormus reflexus." Sometimes the 

 sternum is cleft in two throughout its length, this 

 condition being termed " Schistocormus fissisternalisP 

 The brain may be absent entirely, or partially, and, in 

 some cases, is outside the cranial cavity. The sternal 

 and thoracic ribs are sometimes absent, the heart and 



