NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



region of the spinal column, before we come to one that bears a 

 pair of freely articulated ribs, be these latter great or small. This- 

 can not agree with what Darwin [loc. cit.] found in his skeletons, 

 of the wild G. bankiva, but this observer noted that as he 

 passed to some of the domestic varieties or species of fowls, that 

 " in two Games, in two penciled Hamburg'hs, and in a Polish, the 

 14th vertebra bore ribs, which, though small, were perfectly de- 

 veloped with a double articulation.'' In the specimens of the Jungle 

 fowl before me, the first 14 vertebrae of the column are quite alike 

 in both sexes, except in point of size, those of the male being pro- 

 portionately the larger. 



Choosing these latter then for a few descriptive remarks, we are 

 to note that in the case of the atlas, the upper part of its occipital 

 cup is roundly notched out in order to admit the " odontoid process " 

 of the axis. This latter vertebra possesses a tuberous neural spine, 

 and below, a conspicuous, sharp hypapophysis. In the 3d, 4th, and 

 5th segments this last named process is very prominent, being long, 

 and sharp ; in the 5th vertebra, however, it is less so than in the 

 first two mentioned. Parapophyses commence on the 3d vertebra, 

 and are in mid series long and spiculiform. In the 4th vertebra 

 the pre- and postzygapophyses are joined on either side by a lamina 

 of bone, which in each is perforated by a small foramen. From 

 the 5th to the nth vertebra inclusive, we find the haemal processes 

 modified in the usual manner, so as to form a canal for the pas- 

 sage of the two carotids. Laterally, the vertebral canal passes on 

 either side, from the 3d to the 13th vertebra inclusive. 



A very handsome lamelliform hypapophysis, directed forward,, 

 occupies a median position upon the nether aspect of the 12th and 

 13th vertebrae, a character also of the 14th and 15th segments,, 

 where, however, they are considerably smaller. A well developed 

 knoblike neural spine is upon the usual site in the 14th vertebra, 

 situated far back, between the postzygapophyses. 



Passing next to the 15th vertebra of the column, we find that it 

 has a strong, quadrate neural spine, and quite prominent and thick 

 diapophyses. From below these latter are suspended the first pair 

 of free ribs. These ribs, in my male specimen, are each but a 

 centimeter long, while in the hen they lack but a millimeter of being 

 two centimeters long. In both, the tubercula and the capitula are 

 well developed, though in neither are there present the uncinate 

 processes. As I have already stated above, this vertebra also has 

 a median haemal spine of no great size ; it has more than this, as 



