The dorsal vertebrm are distinguished for the great length and development of their spinous processes. The latter have an ex traordinary elevation in the Giraffe, for the attachment of the powerful legamentum nu cites, which is broadest at this point (fig. 315.). The spinous " apophyses" are large in the Bovidm, and still more bulky in Camelidm. The transverse processes of the lumbar ver tebrm in the first-named family are extremely prominent, and have a straight lateral di rection. In the swift-bounding Stags and Antelopes they are shorter, and a little curved forward. In Camelidm they are largely de veloped, slightly bent downward, and abrupt at their extremities, the last pair being com paratively short and narrow. The sacrum consists of three, four, or five pieces consoli dated together, to the anterior of which the assa ilea are articulated. The spinous pro cesses form a single continuous crest. The caudal vertebrae vary in number, and, in the foregoing table, eighteen are assigned to this region in the Giraffe. Prof. Owen has counted as many as twenty in the Nubian variety. The Llamas, Stags, Goats, and certain of the Antelopes have the tail short, with a proportionate diminution of bony segments ; this appendage is of considerable length in the true Camels, the Gnus, the Oxen, and some of the Sheep.
The ribs vary chiefly in respect of their size. The Giraff'e has seven directly united to the sternum, and an equal number un attached. Eight are true and five false in the Stag, and the same division occurs in the Ox. They are strong in the true Camels and in the Giraffe, being particularly broad to ward the sternal ends. The same peculiarity bolds good with most of the bovine species. In the Camel seven pairs are connected to the sternum, the anterior ones being straight and short ; five remain unsupported. The ribs are very narrow in the Bison, and particularly slender in the Antelopes and Deer. The sternum is flattened in ruminants, its fi.-st bone being rounded in front, and somewhat attenu ated. This is especially the case in the Giraffe, where the breadth increases towards the posterior border, at which point it is extremely thick. It is more or less curved in the Camel and Giraffe, particularly in the latter. We have observed in the skeleton of an Arabian Camel, preserved in the Edinburgh College of Surg,eons' Museum, that the se cond bone of the sternum is of very great bulk, while the first is small and tlat ante riorly.
The pelvic bones are broad and strong in the' Camels and bovine tribes, and compara tively slight in the Antelopes and Deer. In the Giraffe and in the Camelidm the crest of the ileura is rounded, the neck long, and the upper surface of the bone concave. The ileum is extremely prominent and large in the Ox and Buffalo, and in respect of the neck, acquires an almost vertical position ; the prominence of the ischium is placed on a higher level than the cotyloid cavity. In ruminants generally, the posterior angle of the ischium presents the appearance of a tripod. The ischiatic notch is deep. In
CEgosceridoe, Cervidae, and Antelopidw, there is a depression immediately in front of the cotyloid cavity for the insertion of the ten don of the straight muscle of the thigh. In Moschus, according to M. F. Cuvier, the sacro-ischiatic ligament and connecting apo neuroses ossify-, in consequence of which there is formed in this region a shield-like osseous plate extending from the crest of the ileum to the ischial tuberosity.* Bones of the anterior extremity.— There are no traces of a clavicle in this order. The scapula is long, and has the form of an isosceles triangle, the base of which is repre sented by the spinal border, and the apical angle by the glenoid facet. In Camelidw the spine of the bone is prolonged downwards over the neck, forming, in this respect, an approach to the pachydermatous type. The acromion apophysis is likewise developed in Bovidx; but it can scarcely be said to exist in other ruminants. In every division of the family we find the neck of the scapula much elongated, and the extreme manifestation of this peculiarity in the Giraffe, together with a nearly vertical direction of the bone, pro duces the remarkable elevation of the shoulder, characteristic of that animal. The coracoid process exists only in a very rudimentary condition, or is altogether absent. The rela tive disproportion between the supra and infra-spinal spaces is very striking ; usually the former consists only of a narrow plate of bone, but its development in the Camel is more cogent. In Bovidw the root of the spine is blended and continuous at its acro mial end with the anterior scapular border.
The humerus, according to its thickness and bulk, affords a very fair criterion of the comparative activity and strength of the different species. In Camelidm and Bovidm this bone is very massive, and the tuberosities are of great size, the lesser prominence being more elevated than the greater in the first of these two tribes, and hollowed out in front by a capacious channel. The linea aspera stands out boldly, and the external and in ternal condyles are drawn back, as it were, to deepen the olecranon cavity. The tro chlear grooves and ridges are also well marked. The foramen for the passage of the nutritious artery is generally situated at the commencement of the lower third of the bone ; but a slight variation is occasionally observed. Thus, in reg,ard to its position in the Giraffe, Professor Owen states that the " medullary artery enters the bone at its inner side about the junction of the upper and middle third," while it is added, that in the skeleton preserved in the Museum of Comparative Anatomy at Paris, the vessel enters the left humerus at the point of union of the middle and lower third.* We have found a similar disposition to occur in our example. The foramen enters at the posterior and inner surface of the right humerus, and is situated very near the centre of the shaft ; but in the bone of the left side it is placed further down, as in the Parisian spectmen : the opening is likewise rather smaller.