THE PELVIS. 27 



spinous processes ; the tlnrd having indistinct spinous and transverse pro- 

 cesses. The superior vertebra? have a thick, oblong, solid spinous process ; 

 the middle have this process bifid. The superior, to the number of seven, 

 have a regular spinal canal ; the middle, an imperfect canal ; the inferior, 

 a mere groove on the dorsal surface. The five superior vertebra? measure 

 one foot across the transverse processes ; the body is oval, transversely 

 oblong, with an articulating surface of three inches in diameter. The 

 transverse processes are about three inches wide ; the canal is an inch and 

 a half in diameter. 



The bifid vertebra? are slightly elongated. The largest measures 

 about eight inches across the transverse processess. 



The grooved vertebra? are more elongated. The smallest in this 

 skeleton measures three inches in length. The front of the bodies of the 

 vertebra? is generally slightly excavated, rough at the intervertebral con- 

 nection. 



THE PELVIS. 



The pelvis (Plate XXIV.), in consequence of the arched form of the 

 vertebral column and its obliquity, is placed rather behind than below 

 this column. Its anterior face is inclined a little downwards; the plane 

 of the upper opening of the pelvic strait is nearly vertical ; the lower is 

 quite oblique, its inferior wall forming an inclined plane backwards and 

 downwards. 



It is an enormously massive structure ; a part of the bones being very 

 thick and strong. The upper portion of the pelvis, though less excavated, 

 more nearly resembles the human than does that of most other animals, 

 including the carnivora, ruminantia, and even the quadrumana. But the 



