Dorsal vertebrae

The dorsal vertebrae, twelve in number, are intermediate in size as well as in situation, between the cervical and the lumbar.

The foramen is smaller than in the cervical or lumbar region, and is nearly circular in its form. The lateral notches, * B and consequently

the intervertebral foramina which they form, are larger than those in the neck; and those at the lower margin of the pedicles are much larger and deeper than those on the upper.

The breadth of the body 1 from side to side, exceeds the depth from before backwards much less than in the cervical or lumbar vertebrae. It is convex and prominent on the anterior surface, flat and plain at the upper and lower; at each side of the body may be observed a slight notch, 2 2 in the superior as well as in the inferior border, — these are covered with cartilage, and, when the vertebra is placed in apposition with the adjacent ones, form oval depressions for the reception of the heads of the corresponding ribs. The articulating processes are nearly vertical in their direction; the superior looking backwards, the inferior forwards. The transverse processes 7 are long, thick, and inclined backwards, [more in the female than in the male,] and on the anterior surface of each of their tubercular terminations is situated a slight excavation, which in the fresh state is tipped with cartilage, and articulates with the tubercle of the rib. The spinous processes, 6 elongated and triangular, are directed downwards, and terminate in a tubercle. The plates are broad and thick, but shorter than those in the neck.