MONSTROSITIES. 8 7 
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 oftenabsent. A 
very common monstrosity amongst cattle, consists in 
Fic. 36. 
Ecropia Corps: Schistocormus Fissisternalis. 
the spine being curved forwards, the coccygeal vertebrae 
terminating about the withers, and the ribs springing 
from the spine upwards. This condition has received 
the name of “Schzstocormus reflexus.” Sometimes the 
sternum is cleft in two throughout its length, this 
condition being termed “Schdstocormus fissisternalzs.” 
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. 
