REMARKS ON THE FIGURES. OF PLATE XLIII. 
THE THORACIC PLUS ARCHETYPE SERIES HAPPENING BETWEEN THE CERVIX ABOVE AND THE LOINS BELOW 
IS LIKE A WHOLE QUANTITY PRECEDED AND SUCCEEDED BY MINUS QUANTITY. 
Ga TINUITY characterises as well the graduated chain of proportional forms as those forms which 
are in whole condition. The serial line is still continuous, whether as thus, 9,8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2,1, 
or as thus, 9, 9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9. And so would the serial line of whole costo-vertebral structures 
form a continuity from beginning to the other extreme, were it not that metamorphosis degrades those 
plus units to their proportionals, but still, as proportionals they hold in continuous order, and when 
compared to each other they mutually interpret the present condition of one another. As plus quantity 
may be degraded to any minus degree or condition, so will each minus serial quantity relate of itself that 
it has been degraded from an original plus archetype, and upon this fact the idea of continuous plus 
uniformity is developed. 
The skeleton axes, although manifesting a certain conformity of character in having one region of 
series plus and another minus, are still various as to the numerical position of those quantities which are 
plus and those which are minus. The like variation is observable in the human skeleton axis, as we have 
already seen, and therefore, as it is true that the number of thoracic plus figures varies, and thereby 
influences the condition of cervical and lumbar series not only for several animal species, but even for one, 
so must it follow that the variety of serieses depends altogether upon the numerical situation of those 
And, for 
the same reason, it may be inferred that a continuous plus series of costo-vertebral figures is the only 
plus costo-vertebral thoracic quantities which have been subjected to the law of metamorphosis. 
absolute uniformity which we can ever hope to know. Upon the structural quantity of such a series the 
law of subtraction or metamorphosis establishes all the minus regions of a cervix, a loins, a sacrum, or a 
caudal prolongation. 
In the fullest thoracic quantity we read the archetype 
of series. In the smallest caudal quantity we read the 
smallest proportional of such an archetype. 
In fig. A seven archetype quantities have been meta- 
morphosed for the cervical spine ; twelve of the succeeding 
archetypes persist more or less perfect for the thoracic region 
of the same spinal series; eight of the next succeeding arche- 
type quantities have been proportioned for the lumbar 
spine, and thirty next succeeding archetypes have been 
metamorphosed or subtracted from for the creation of the 
sacro-caudal series. In fig. A we see a skeleton axis, 
consisting of variable proportions struck out from fifty- 
seven archetypes, and the length of each region of this 
series corresponds to the number of the archetype units 
which have undergone proportioning from plus to minus. 
In fig. B seven archetypes have undergone metamor- 
phosis for the cervical region of series; thirteen of those 
archetypes persist more or less complete for the thoracic 
series ; four archetypes have been proportioned to the lum- 
bar region of series; nine of the like archetypes have been 
proportioned to the sacro-caudal region of that same series. 
Tn fig. C seven archetypes have also suffered metamor- 
phosis for the cervix. ‘Twelve archetypes persist more or 
less complete for the thorax ; five archetypes are propor- 
tioned for the lumbar spine; and six of the same arche- 
type quantities are proportioned to the sacro-caudal spine. 
In fig. D, a human lumbar spine, we see that unit 18 a, 
terminates the thoracic region of series, and consequently 
that the lumbar spine is increased by one proportional 
figure, viz., that marked 19 a, which in ordinary cases is 
