114 
MR.  T.  BELL'S  OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  NECK 
first  and  second  dorsal,  each  of  them  bearing  a  pair  of  rudimentary  ribs,  moveably  arti- 
culated to  their  transverse  processes  by  a  true  articular  surface.  This  fact  I  have  ascer- 
tained by  the  examination  of  two  skeletons  in  my  possession,  one  of  which  is  an  adult, 
and  is  artificially  articulated,  the  other  very  young,  and  preserved  as  a  natural  skeleton 
in  spirit. 
In  the  adult  animal  we  find  the  eighth  and  ninth  vertebra,  which  I  shall  now  call  the 
first  and  second  dorsal,  having  the  transverse  processes  longer  and  narrower  than  those 
of  the  cervical,  and  each  terminated  with  a  perfect  articular  surface,  which  is  slightly 
depressed  ;  and  to  these  are  attached  the  heads  of  the  rudimentary  ribs  just  mentioned. 
The  first  of  these  rudiments  is  small  and  slender,  about  -f-5-ths  of  an  inch  in  length, 
having  a  distinct  rounded  head  at  the  articular  extremity,  becoming  then  abruptly 
smaller,  and  tapering  to  the  apex.  The  second  is  considerably  larger,  and  assumes 
more  of  the  character  of  a  short  rib.  It  is  about  6  lines  in  length,  and  nearly  2  in 
breadth.  Its  head  is  oblong  and  rounded,  and  there  is  a  tubercle  on  the  upper  and 
anterior  side.  Towards  the  extremity  it  becomes  broader  and  flatter,  with  an  excavated 
surface  inwards,  and  a  convex  rough  prominence  on  the  outer  side,  apparently  the 
point  of  muscular  attachment.  Immediately  behind  and  beneath  the  head  of  the  bone 
is  a  minute /oramm  for  the  passage  of  intercostal  vessels. 
The  character  of  the  transverse  processes  of  these  two  vertebra  differs  very  materially, 
as  might  be  expected,  from  that  of  the  true  cervical.  In  the  superior  vertebra  this 
process  is  transverse  and  slightly  bifid.  In  the  seventh  cervical  it  stands  obUquely 
forwards,  and  the  apex  is  broad  and  oblong.  In  the  first  dorsal  each  transverse  process 
is  completely  divided  into  an  anterior  flattened  process,  which  is  turned  forwards,  and 
a  true  lateral  or  transverse  one,  which  supports  the  little  rudimentary  rib.  The  trans- 
verse process  is  smaller,  but  considerably  longer  than  those  of  the  true  cervical,  and 
stands  more  in  a  lateral  or  transverse  direction.  In  the  second  dorsal  vertebra  the  an- 
terior processes  do  not  exist,  and  the  body  assumes  the  form  of  the  succeeding  ones. 
The  transverse  processes  are  simple  and  obtuse,  and  the  articular  surface  is  slightly 
excavated. 
In  the  natural  skeleton  to  which  I  have  referred,  the  rudimentary  ribs  are  very  ob- 
vious, though,  from  the  early  age  of  the  subject,  they  are  of  course  much  smaller  than 
in  the  former.  The  first,  indeed,  consists  only  of  a  minute  particle  of  bone,  not  much 
larger  than  a  pin's  head,  but  connected  with  the  vertebra  by  a  capsular  ligament,  and 
perfectly  moveable ;  the  second  is  of  more  considerable  size,  and,  like  the  former,  has 
its  capsular  ligament  inclosing  its  head,  and  holding  it  on  to  the  articular  cavity  of  the 
transverse  process  of  the  vertebra. 
Cuvier  appears  to  have  seen  the  moveable  costal  rudiment  in  the  young  animal ;  he 
has,  however,  evidently  confounded  it  with  the  long  transverse  process  in  the  adult, 
and  has  wholly  passed  over  the  obvious  analogy  which  I  have  here  endeavoured  to 
trace.    He  says,  "  Les  apophyses  transverses  du  cou  sont  courtes,  larges  au  bout,  qui 
