252 THE HORSE. 



fresh state, the intervertebral fibro-cartilage is in some parts of the 

 Bpine of considerable thickness; and if the proper substance is not 

 artificially supplied, the skeleton will be too short, or if too thick 

 a material is added it will be too long. In the engraving of the 

 skeleton occupying the opposite page, which is drawn from the 

 skeleton in the Museum of the Veterinary College of London, the 

 spine is correctly represented, but the thorax is too shallow, and 

 the scapula, together with the whole fore extremity, is placed too 

 far forward. v 



NUMBER OF BONES COMPOSING THE SKELETON. 



The skeleton is composed of two hundred and forty-seven 

 separate bones, which are united by joints to form the spine, tho- 

 rax, pelvis, tail, and fore and hind extremities. The spine is 

 finished anteriorly by the head, which is divided into the cranium 

 and face, and contains the teeth. Suspended from the head is the 

 os hyoides, which completes the number of bones. Thus : — 

 The spine consists of 7 cervical, 18 dorsal, and 6 lumbar ver- 

 tebrae— Total 31 



The thoeax is made up of the dorsal vertebras, with 18 ribs 



on each side, and the sternum in the middle — Total . . 37 

 The pelvis comprises 2 ossa innominata (or ilium, ischium, 



and pubes), and 1 sacrum — Total 3 



The tail contains on the average 17 bones 17 



The fore extremity is made up on each side of the scapula, 

 humerus, os brachii, and 8 carpal bones, 3 metacarpal, os 

 suffraginis, os coronae, os pedis, os naviculare, 2 ossa sesa- 



moidea — Total on both sides 40 



The hind extremity has the femur, patella, tibia, fibula, 6 

 tarsal bones, 3 metatarsals, os suffraginis, os coronae, os 

 pedis, os naviculare, 2 ossa sesamoidea — Total .... 38 



Bones of the cranium .10 



Bones op the face and lower jaw 18 



Teeth 40 



Bones of the internal ear, 4 in each organ 8 



Os Hyoides, or bone of the tongue, made up of five sec- 

 tions 5 



Grand total 247 



GENERAL ANATOMY OF THE SPINAL COLUMN. 



The vertebral or spinal column is the first rudiment of 

 internal skeleton seen in the lower vertebrate animals, and this 

 constitutes the type of that great division of the animal kingdom. 

 In the horse, also, it is the portion of the skeleton first developed 

 in the embryo, and forms the centre around which all the othei 



