there are more, and, when this occurs, the extra ribs are carried by the neck (cervical) or loin (lumbar) vertebræ. I have specimens in my collection of both varieties, cervical and lumbar (see Fig. 2, C), These supernumerary ribs do not occur very frequently; still, every anatomist has observed them. Their occurrence becomes more intelligible when we know that in crocodiles, birds, and the three-toed sloth, neck or cervical ribs exist normally; that in crocodiles, alligators, and some other animals, loin or lumbar ribs are never absent; and that in man traces of them exist in the muscles of the abdomen. In the human embryo, in an early stage, a rib is always seen connected with the seventh neck-vertebra, but before the fifth year of life it becomes blended with the ordinary transverse process (Fig. 2, T); occasionally, however, this rudiment goes on developing, till it becomes a more or less perfect cervical rib (see Fig. 2, C).
Supra-Condyloid Process.—It is not uncommon to find, in the humerus or arm-bone of man, a hook-like process on the inner side of the lower end, having a downward direction; this, with a band of ligament which connects its tip with the humerus lower down, forms a foramen or opening through which pass the great artery and nerve of the arm (see Fig. 3, A, B). This foramen is found in about three per
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/PSM_V25_D743_Supracondyloid_ligament_and_feline_foramen.jpg/500px-PSM_V25_D743_Supracondyloid_ligament_and_feline_foramen.jpg)
Fig. 3.—A, the supracondyloid process of the human humerus; B, the ligament which completes the foramen. (After Struthers.) | Fig. 4.—Bones of Fore-limb of Cat. S, the supracondyloid foramen, with vessel and nerve passing through. (After Struthers.) |
cent of recent skeletons, but much more commonly in the skeletons of ancient races. In very many bodies a trace of this foramen is seen, represented by a very small bony prominence, or only by a band of