ANATOMY OF THE HORSE. 
n°id processes of the occiput to the fore parts of the body of the 
atlas, to be fixed to the roots of its transverse processes ; 2d, The 
suspensory ligament of the head , fixed to the body of the atlas, 
betw een its anterior articular processes and the upper border of 
the occipital hole ; 3d, The capsular or synovial membrane , at¬ 
tached to the body ot the occiput, around the roots of the condy¬ 
loid processes, and to the body and anterior articular processes of 
the atlas. It detaches a process to the membranous envelope of 
the odontoid projection, by which all communication is cut off 
between the joints formed by the first and second vertebrae. 
The axis articulates with the atlas, but is also connected with 
the occiput. It has 1st, 1 he superior ligament , passing from 
the spine or^ the axis to the inferior part of the bony nno' of the 
atlas ’ 2d, The inferior ligament , broad, connecting their inferior 
spinous projections together; 3d, The three odontoid ligaments :— 
two long , passing from the sides of the odontoid process to the 
inner sides of the occipital condyles; the short and broad one, 
running from the point of the process, along a bony canal, to the 
antero-inferior part of the atlas ; 4th, Capsular membrane , in¬ 
cluding the articulatory surfaces, which are encrusted with carti¬ 
lage of the first and second vertebrae, is attached around the pos¬ 
terior articular processes of the atlas and the anterior of the axis, 
aiound the odontoid process, and also to the odontoid ligaments. 
In the ordinary movements of the head, all the cervical ver- 
teoiae, more or less, participate: it is only in the nodding motion, 
01 sudden chuck of it, that the occipital joint is especially called 
into action. When the nose is carried to one side, the odontoid 
process revolves upon its own axis within the cavity of the atlas. 
Common articulations of the vertebras.— All the ver¬ 
tebras, excepting the atlas and last lumbar, articulate one with 
another, before and behind, through the apposition of their 
bodies, and the adaptation of their articulatory processes. They 
are bound together by—1st, The inferior vertebral ligament , con¬ 
sisting of bands of ligamentous fibres running obliquely along the 
inferior surfaces of the bodies of the vetebrae, expanding as they 
approach, and taking root in each intervertebral substance ; 2d, 
ihe superior vertebral ligament , situated within the vertebral ca- 
naH. It pursues the same course along the inner surfaces of the 
upper portions of the rings which the inferior ligament does be¬ 
low, maintaining the whole more firmly together ; 3d, Inter- 
transverse ligaments , binding together the transverse processes; 
4th, Inter-spinous ligaments , between the spinous processes, but 
found only in the back and loins; 5th, Capsular membranes , in- 
It cannot be demonstrated without sawing through the bony arches. 
