c 
 
 L(A' 
 
SCARCE MONOGKAPHS.-MODERN SERIES. 
 
 AN INAUGURAL DISSERTATION, 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 SOME OBSERVATIONS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 PELVIS OF THE MAMMALIA, 
 
 WHICH, FNDEE THE 
 
 PRESIDENCY OF J. F. H. AUTENREITH, 
 
 PEOFESSOE OF ANATOMY AND STJEGEEY, 
 
 WAS OFFERED FOR PUBLIC EXAMINATION 
 
 BY JOHN FI^CHj^R, 
 
 A CANDIDATE FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MEDICINE, 
 TUBINGEN, SEPTEMBER, 1798. 
 
 MANCHESTER : 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM IRWIN, 
 
 39, OLDHAM-STEEET. 
 
 1848. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 TO THE ILLUSTKIOUS 
 FREDERIC ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT, 
 
 ETC., ETC. 
 
 TEANSLATED BY EOBEET KNOX, ESQ., M.D., F.E.S., 
 
 EXPEESSLY FOE THE 
 
 "BEITISH EECOED OF OBSTETEIC MEDICINE AND SUEGKEEY,' 
 EDITED BY CHAS. CLAY, M. D., MANCHESTEB. 
 
 As the first of our series of Modern Monographs, we offer no apology iu 
 presenting to our readers the celebrated Inaugural Dissertation of J. Fischer, 
 on the Pelvis of the Mammalia, a work of great value, and extreme rarity. 
 In order to give the author's ideas with the greatest possible exactness, we 
 esteem ourselves happy in presenting a translation expressly prepared for the 
 British Eecord of Obstetric Medicine and Surgery, by EOBEET ZKOX, Esq., 
 M. D., F. E. S., &c., &c. ; and have no doubt, under his able superintendence, 
 it will form a Monographic gem of the highest interest and value. 
 
 CHAELES CLAY, M. D., MANCHESTEB. 
 
THE PRESIDENT 
 
 TO THE 
 
 DISTINGUISHED CANDIDATE, 
 
 S. P. D. 
 
 I return to you, unchanged, the dissertation you presented to me, adding 
 to it but a few observations, expressed in a different type, lest, any thing 
 unpleasant in the annotations might be attributed to you. This academical 
 dissertation is not only highly creditable to your learning, but proves your 
 mind to be untrammelled by the narrow limits of mere practical art and 
 doctrine, and therefore equal to the advancement of science. Permit me, 
 however, merely to remark to you, that you have neglected taking an enlarged 
 view of the whole material collected by you, although individual parts are 
 perfectly illustrated ; thus leaving to the reader the troublesome task of dis- 
 covering the fruit all the more difficult amidst a material by no means trite 
 or common. The following is all which a want of leisure and opportunity 
 permit me to effect towards remedying this difficulty. 
 
 There are two circumstances in which the pelvis of the mammalia chiefly 
 differs from the human ; first, the symphysis of the pubes is elongated back- 
 wards, so that the inferior wall of the smaller or true pelvis, forms a semi- 
 canal, extending much beyond the posterior termination of the bones of the 
 sacrum, and covered superiorly by ike moveable and slender coxygeal bones 
 only. I shall consider a little farther on the value and the importance of this 
 structure in the pelvis of the quadruped, in facilitating the efforts of birth. 
 In this place I shall consider the second peculiarity alluded to above ; this 
 has reference to the ossa ilium. It is known in man that a small portion of 
 the bone of the ilium extends upwards and backwards, above the level of 
 the base of the sacrum, giving an attachment by its inner surface to the 
 common origin of the long muscles of the trunk ; but that on the other hand, 
 the anterior portion of this bone, which is by much the larger portion, is ex- 
 tended by its lateral anterior margin forwards, anterior to the sacrum ; 
 covered by the iliac muscle, it supports the intestines firmly with the opposite 
 bone and the basis of the sacrum, the larger or so called upper or false 
 pelvis. The margin or crest of the ilium is angular mesially from the spot 
 where the ligament proceeds from it to the lumbar vertebra. But the su- 
 perior anterior ligament of the pelvis, which unites this angle of the crest to 
 the transverse process of the fifth lumbar vertebra, and another ligament 
 placed lower down, the anterior inferior ligament of the pelvis, establish the 
 same distinction superiorly between the abdominal anterior portion of the 
 inner surface of the ilium and its posterior dorsal and smaller portion, which 
 lower down the broad symphysis called sacro-iliac has constituted. On the 
 other hand, many of the smaller animals want all that abdominal portion 
 
 B2 
 
 M371Q68 
 
4 FISCHEE ON THE PELVIS OF THE MAMMALIA ; 
 
 of the os ilium which forms the larger or upper pelvis, but have that portion 
 which towards the back projects beyond the os sacrum, long, although nar- 
 rower, and more parallel with the os sacrum. This is the reason chiefly why 
 the larger os ilium of the mammalia is so much narrower than the same bone 
 in man, and its crest especially narrow. Hence the greatest distinction arises 
 in the ratio of the muscles of the pelvis and trunk ; for instance, the dorsal 
 muscles are very large in the rabbit, and the quadratus lumborum and psoas 
 muscles of that animal which lie anteriorly on the longest transverse pro- 
 cesses. These muscles, on both sides, completely hide the anterior aspect of 
 the bodies of the lumbar vertebrae. There is no iliacus muscle, as there is 
 evidently no room for it ; but the quadratus lumborum being left on the 
 lateral and superior margin of the pelvis, it ascends above that, resting 
 almost on the anterior and lateral margin of the sacrum ; posteriorly it 
 appears to be joined in a manner to the pyriformus muscle of the true pelvis. 
 The abdominal muscles are inserted into the anterior elongated margin of 
 the ilium, Pouparts' ligaments being placed more at the side than in man, on 
 account of the very broad symphysis of the bones of the pubes and thigh 
 bones coming out from the sides of the pelvis, and placed chiefly in an 
 oblique position. 
 
 On account of the narrowness of the ilium, these ligaments almost touched 
 the inferior insertion of the quadratus lumborum, unless the psoas muscle 
 came between them. All the crest of the ilium rises backwards above the 
 os sacrum in the rabbits, and gives insertion to the dorsal muscles ; hence the 
 false pelvis is evidently wanting in that animal, and only the true pelvis is 
 present. In other mammalia, as in the moles, not even by its margin does the 
 os ilium look towards the cavity of the abdomen, the whole bone being re- 
 tracted towards the back superiorly ; other quadrupeds, as the horse, &c., 
 at least possess some abdominal portion of the ilium ; others truly, as the 
 elephant, possess a very large portion, and which on this account resemble 
 man ; but I shall treat of these afterwards. 
 
 This absence of the false pelvis in most of the smaller animals, and the very 
 narrow os ilium, render the extremity of the body posteriorly so narrow 
 when compared to man, and by denying a broader place of insertion for the 
 gluteal muscles, render the haunches of mammalia very slender. The first 
 cause, in connection with the horizontal position of the trunk, easily explains 
 why herniae, which are of very frequent occurrence in man, are very rare 
 among quadruped mammals ; why no congenital hernia can occur in the 
 rabbit, although the processes of peritonaeum, which lead the testicle into the 
 scrotum, remain open even in the adult animal, so that the testicles can very 
 easily pass and re-pass from the cavity of the abdomen : why, moreover, 
 hernias are of more frequent occurrence among those animals which have 
 a certain kind of false pelvis, (as the horse,) which therefore have Pouparts' 
 ligaments and the abdominal rings more transverse, and less situated at the 
 side. It happens, indeed, that the thighs are bent towards the abdomen in 
 almost all mammals, and the bony symphysis of the pubes is broader than in 
 man ; therefore, the lowest part of the abdomen is better protected, while the 
 abdominal rings are at a greater distance from each other. 
 
 It is here worthy of remark, that the infant in the human race has the 
 
AUTENREITH'S ADDKESS. 5 
 
 pelvis in reality narrow, as in most quadrupeds ; the abdomen elevated, or 
 amalgamated as it were, with the chest, and the umbilical region very broad 
 or ample. In the infant, also, I have found the abdominal portion of the bones 
 of the ilium much less than in the adult, as compared with the dorsal portion, 
 and that the ratio of the length of the dorsal portion to the abdominal, was, 
 in the infant not quite two years old, as ten to eleven, up to fourteen ; 
 whilst in the adult the ratio was as eleven to sixteen, up to twenty-two. 
 This narrowness in the pelvis of the infant explains the greater frequency in 
 them of umbilical and inguinal hernise to crural : as, on the other hand, 
 the breadth of the pelvis in grown women renders easy of explanation their 
 greater liability to crural herniae (and to hernise of the foramen ovale !) ; and, 
 generally, why it happens that hernise most frequently appear at a time when 
 the osseous pelvis has acquired its full development, than in early years when 
 the pelvis is still narrow. To this observation there is the exception of con- 
 genital and umbilical herniae. The strength of the dorsal muscles in the 
 mammalia, seems to assist the slenderness of the glutei. The more any 
 animal is fitted for leaping, and therefore for a more rapid elevation of the 
 trunk, in it do we find a larger portion of the os ilium surpassing the os 
 sacrum towards the back, and destined for the insertion of the dorsal muscles. 
 I have measured the pelvis of fifteen mammals, in their whole length : then 
 from the summit of the crest of the os ilium, as far as the anterior extremity 
 of the tuberosity of the os ischium ; then I multiplied the length of that 
 part of the os ilium (in its longest diameter), which passes beyond the os 
 sacrum, with the breadth of the same part measured in its middle height or 
 depth, and thus discovered the proportion of these numbers. The mole, 
 unable to raise its prostrate body from the ground, has the least space for 
 the insertion of the dorsal muscles ; the bat follows it, which cannot raise 
 itself so far on its abdominal extremities as to afford space for the unfolding 
 of its pectoral limbs ; the sluggish hedgehog follows the bat ; the mouse and 
 weasel the hedgehog ; next the rat ; then the stoat ; the squirrel ; the rabbit ; 
 then the martin cats ; the genus felis (cats) followed the martin, already 
 remarkable for its leaping, and its swiftness of motion ; then the short-haired 
 dog ; next the fox : the hare already excels the swift fox, living in the open 
 air, and on this head differing most widely from its co-gener, the troglodylic 
 rabbit. It is necessary merely to caution any one about to contemplate 
 this series, that in an absolutely larger animal, the osseous surface for the 
 insertion of the muscles, must not only be absolutely, but relatively larger. 
 
 In the skeleton of a certain cercopithecus, with a face resembling the 
 human, but with a very long tail, and measuring, from the vertex to the 
 calcaneum sixteen French inches, I found that portion of the os ilium which 
 projects beyond the level of the sacrum to be very small, although it had not, 
 properly speaking, any abdominal portion. Its place therefore in the series, 
 was between the bat and the hedgehog. 
 
 Nor is man himself remarkable for any great strength of the dorsal muscles ; 
 whilst resting on all four limbs, he cannot raise the trunk by leaps, unless the 
 knees be first under the abdomen, as in the case of the quadruped. His 
 dorsal muscles seem rather calculated to retain the trunk in its erect position, 
 than at every step to raise again the horizontal, (that is, to raise the trunk 
 
6 FISCHEE OS THE PELVIS OF THE MAMMALIA ; 
 
 rom the horizontal to the erect position, with the same ease as they retain it 
 when erect) ; the hands seem mainly given to him, as to the simise, for 
 assisting in raising the trunk. 
 
 The proportion of the numbers obtained by multiplying the length of the 
 dorsal portion of the ilium into the breadth of its middle portion, was to the 
 square of the whole length of the whole pelvis : In the 
 Mole, as 72 to 10,000 Squirrel, as 383 to 10,000 
 
 Bat, ... 124 
 
 Cercopithecus, ... 149 
 
 Hedgehog, ... 179 
 
 Mouse, ... 183 
 
 Weasel, ... 204 
 
 Eat, ... 227 
 
 Eabbit, ... 422 ... 
 
 Martin, ... 467 ... 
 
 Cat, ... 538 ... 
 
 Short-haired dog ... 646 ... 
 
 Fox, ... 715 ... 
 
 Hare, ... 737 ... 
 
 Stoat, ... 309 ..: 
 
 I next measured several human pelves by a straight line, from the anterior 
 superior spine of the crest of the ilium to the angle which this crest makes 
 inwardly in that spot, where, by means of a ligament, it is joined to the trans- 
 verse process of the last lumbar vertebra ; and then leading the string or cord 
 from this angle to the posterior superior tubercle in which the dorsal portion 
 of the crest terminates ; by these measurements I found, for the most part, 
 that the dorsal portion was absolutely larger in those pelves in which the ab- 
 dominal part was smallest ; and, vice versa, the promontory (or rather the 
 last lumbar vertebra) projected more into the cavity of the pelvis the longer 
 the dorsal portion of the crest of the ilium really was. In a female pelvis, for 
 example, the abdominal portion was sixty-seven lines in length, in another only 
 fifty and a third ; in the former, the dorsal portion was only twenty-six lines 
 and two-thirds in length ; in the latter, it was thirty-two and a half. The 
 length of the whole crest was thus in both nearly the same ; for twenty-six and 
 two-thirds added to sixty-one make eighty-seven and two-thirds ; and fifty- 
 two and one-third added to thirty- two and a half give nearly eighty-five. The 
 fossa, or depression, moreover, between the dorsal portion of the crest of the 
 ilium, and the summits of the spinous processes of the lumbar vertebrae, was 
 less marked in that pelvis in which the dorsal portion was least, and in which 
 the promontory projected less acutely into the cavity of the pelvis ; but it was 
 deeper or better marked in that pelvis in which the promontory projected 
 more acutely into the cavity of the pelvis, and in which the dorsal portion 
 was larger. In the former pelvis this fossa, or depression, had a depth of 
 nine and one-third lines ; in the latter it equalled eleven and a quarter. 
 
 These observations seem to me to throw new light on an observation of the 
 distinguished Osiander,* who observed that "in women who, from their earliest 
 years were accustomed to carry burdens on their backs, the angle which the 
 conjugate diameter of the pelvis makes with the horizon becomes much 
 nearer the perpendicular, than in those accustomed to carry burdens in any 
 other way ; and that this greater inclination of the conjugate diameter is a 
 frequent cause of difficult parturition. For not only does this greater obli- 
 
 * Denkwurdig keiten fur die Heilkunde und Geburtshulfe, Zweyter Band ; Getting., 
 1795; p. 340. 
 
AUTENREITH'S ADDRESS. 7 
 
 quity of the conjugate diameter, arising from the flexion of the loins forward, 
 render parturition more difficult, but the strength, likewise, of the dorsal 
 muscles, increased by exercise, seems to be equal to the drawing backwards 
 the pelvis of a young person of. tender years, and of forcing the promontory 
 inwards, and in this way to alter the form of the pelvis, and to render it 
 narrower." At all events, the conjugate diameter of that pelvis whose dorsal 
 portion was the largest, was shorter by six lines than the conjugate of that 
 pelvis in which the dorsal fossa (already described) was least. Perhaps it is 
 hurtful, therefore, to women to carry heavy weights on their backs ; or even, 
 perhaps, to affect too upright a style of walking, wherein the back and shoul- 
 ders are drawn backwards, and the os sacrum elevated by the great vigour of 
 the dorsal muscles. The chests of females, also, rendered stiff with whalebone, 
 perhaps injure them in a similar way ; nor is it only the narrowing of the 
 pelvis from side to side, or transversely, which ought to be attended to when 
 female clothing is considered, or the application of machines to the body 5 its 
 impression from before backwards ought also to be attended to. 
 
 The dorsal portion of the crest of the ilium seems, for the most part, abso^ 
 lutely larger in men than in women, and the abdominal portion smaller ; but 
 the strength of the muscles is greater in man than in woman. 
 
 I come now to the next remarkable difference between the pelvis of man 
 and other mammals, namely, the elongation of the symphysis of the pubis, 
 elongated into a semicanal, and to which Daubenton gave a proper name ; and 
 to the consideration of the fact of the inferior exit of the pelvis in quadrupeds 
 being directly opposed, or opposite, to the superior entrance or opening. In 
 the erect position, the human os sacrum is again bent forwards, which, from 
 its basis, on account of that very inclination of the superior aperture of the 
 pelvis, is curved backwards ; the coccygeal bones follow the forward curve 
 of the os sacrum, and complete it ; in this way the pendens-of the pelvis is 
 supported, the rectum and the vagina curved forwards, and a security is of- 
 fered against a prolapse, during any more violent effort. But the inferior 
 aperture of the pelvis would be too much narrowed by this curvature, were 
 the symphysis of the pubis not shortened, so that this shortest anterior wall 
 might be opposite to the longer curved wall ; together with this, the plane 
 of the superior aperture of the pelvis in man, is elevated much nearer to the 
 glance of the horizon than in the erect animal, Now the globular form of the 
 foetal head alone enables it to pass through this curved route, which leads 
 outwards around the symphysis of the pubis, as around an axis in the con- 
 cavity of the sacrum, from the superior or upper pelvis, through the inferior 
 exit ; and indeed so only that the short excavation of the mucha correspond 
 to the narrow symphisis of the os pubis ; and the long convexity of the 
 head, from the chin extending over the face to the vertex, correspond to the 
 long excavation of the pelvis, extending from the promontory to the apex 
 of the coccyx. The promontory which it must be admitted exists in infants, 
 and even in the foetus, though very obtuse and scarcely conspicuous, seems 
 attributable in point at least to the erect position of man, and to the contin- 
 uous efforts of the dorsal muscles. This promontory, narrowing or di- 
 minishing the conjugate diameter, and by its impression, as it would seem, 
 rendering the oblique diameter the larger, forces the head of the child to 
 
8 FISCHER ON THE PELVIS OF THE MAMMALIA; 
 
 enter the excavation of the pelvis obliquely ; and this indeed happens more 
 frequently with the occiput turned towards the left than the right acetab- 
 ulum, because the uterus in the commencement of pregnancy inclines sen- 
 sibly more and more towards the right side than the rectum, which is rather 
 placed towards the left side, proved perfectly by the examination of the 
 bodies of female infants. Now it was necessary that the head of the fcetus, 
 after it had entered the cavern, or cavity of the true pelvis, should again 
 slightly rotate ; because, as my measurements have at least taught me, the 
 diameter of the smaller pelvis extending from the middle of the os sacrum to 
 the middle length of the symphysis of the pubis, is a little longer than the 
 transverse diameter, measured in the same place ; which is otherwise in the 
 superior aperture of the true pelvis. The dimensions of the child's head 
 beautifully correspond to these diameters, for its transverse diameter through 
 the temples is shorter than its anterior posterior one. The lateral walls also 
 of the true pelvis, and especially the spine of the ischium, if examined care- 
 fully, seem so bent that the head of the child may of necessity be moved in 
 the manner just described. The human birth then is accomplished, as all are 
 agreed on, whilst the head of the child is turned in the pelvis by a semigyra- 
 tion, resembling the whirl of a univalve shell, and so escapes. But since the 
 effort which expels the child acts in a right line, and the immovable walls of 
 the pelvis at last produce these curved lines from a rectilinear motion, it 
 readily appears how much of the propelling force must be lost against the 
 walls by this oblique action, and how, from this cause, the human birth must 
 be difficult ; but this detriment is made up for by the erect stature, the 
 rounded head and larger brain of man, and by his elevated position above the 
 order of mammals. 
 
 All these things are quite differently arranged in animals ; it was necessary 
 that by far the greater number of them should walk on four feet, the pelvis, 
 in consequence, bv no means supports the intestines ; on the contrary, the 
 bowels descend rather from the pelvis towards the deepest part of the um- 
 bilical region, so that, in the smaller animals at least, when they are opened 
 n a supine position, the intestines are never found filling the cavity of the 
 pelvis, as in man, but are found rolled up, and occupying the middle of the 
 abdomen. Hence it happened that the os sacrum might be narrower, and 
 very narrow it is in most of them, and seems to have such a curve with the 
 coccygeal bones as the weight of the tail requires. There is not even so much 
 of a promontory as we find in the human foetus. The head of the foetus also, 
 which in animals is not spherical as in man, but straight and elongated, cor- 
 responds to the straight course through the pelvis ; and it easily escapes 
 through it, expeditiously propelled, the propelling forces meeting with no 
 resistance from its walls. In the gravid quadruped the fundus of the uterus 
 inclines downwards by its own weight ; and its orifice looking towards the 
 pelvis, rises somewhat upwards ; but in quadrupeds also, the posterior aper- 
 ture of the pelvis leads chiefly upwards, and is there covered by a very move- 
 able and narrow sacrum and coccyx, composed of several distinct and separate 
 vertebrae. That the fcetus of the lower animals escapes from the pelvis 
 chiefly by the yielding of the bones of the coccyx upwards, also become more 
 moveable at the period of parturition, is known to every country woman, who 
 
AUTENREITH'S ADDKESS. 9 
 
 foretells the time of parturition in the cow by the greater mobility of the an- 
 terior coccygeal vertebrae, though concealed by their intimate relation to the 
 abdomen, and by the elevation of these bones. Harvey already had said in 
 the chapter on the exterior part of the uterus of the fowl, " in animals with 
 tails, the birth cannot take place without the elevation of the tail ;" these cir- 
 cumstances, however, in women, merely render the birth easier ; but a defi- 
 ciency, in this respect can in no way impede the birth in her. The elongated 
 head of the fetus in the lower mammals, its lengthened form generally, not 
 enclosed in spherical, but in a lengthened cylindrical shaped uterus, seems to 
 be the cause why the smaller pelvis of quadrupeds forms a semi- canal in many 
 species, the symphysis of the pubis being much prolonged, presenting merely 
 a smooth (inconsiderable) incision or fissure between the tuberosities of the 
 bones of the ischium to the chin (bent downwards) of the coming foetus. In 
 the genus mus the foetus is gross or thickheaded, and its general form is also 
 less elongated than in some other animals ; but in this genus it also happens 
 that the symphysis of the smaller pelvis is very short, and the so called 
 ascending branches of the os ischium are in it united at a right angle to the 
 descending branches of the os pubis, so that the smaller pelvis looks as if it 
 had been cut across with a knife, and to have attained to only a half of its 
 usual size. 
 
 It now remains that I say a few' words regarding the narrow and elongated 
 bones of the ilium, and which are more nearly parallel to the os sacrum in 
 their length than in man, present in those species of animals in which the an- 
 terior wall of the pelvis is very short, as in the genus mus, hedgehog, etc. ; 
 and which are found even in those animals which walk like man, supported on 
 two feet, as in the gigantic Didelphis. On the other hand, the elephant has 
 the bones of the ilium very short, but very broad, and strongly resembling the 
 human. The elephant and mankind agree not only in this respect, but also in 
 this other circumstance, that the foetus in both has a very large rounded head, 
 in which the jaws are withdrawn as it were beneath the basis of the cranium, 
 an arrangement of structure calculated to influence greatly the form of the 
 uterus, and hence perhaps rendering this form of pelvis necessary ; but these 
 two wisest of animals agree also in this, that they both have the thigh bones 
 disengaged or free of the trunk and straight, whilst in most other animals these 
 bones lie hid, as it were, enclosed entirely or partially within the abdominal 
 region, compressed and bent ; this happens even in the gigantic Didelphis. The 
 bear, in whom the thigh bones are more disengaged from the trunk than in 
 the other fervse, has the os ilium also broader than they have. The muscles 
 which proceed from the external surface of the os ilium to the trochanter 
 major of the femur, would either be too tense (as the remotest portion of the 
 gluteus maximus), or would sometimes be too short when contracted, some- 
 times too long in extension of the thigh (as the gluteus medius), if the os ilium 
 of animals, broad as in man, should, notwithstanding, coincide with a thigh 
 bone hid as it were in the abdominal region and bent as in them, no alteration 
 having taken place in the insertion of the muscles. But an elongated and 
 narrow os ilium, with its abdominal or inferior portion as it were entirely 
 wanting or deficient, does not interfere with this bent position of the thigh 
 bones. Moreover these bent, compressed, very broad, and closely approxi- 
 
10 FISCHER ON THE PELVIS OF THE MAMMALIA. 
 
 mated thighs, as they exist in the lower mammals, support the remote portion 
 of the lower belly, and no less prevent too forcible a protrusion of the intes- 
 tines against the abdominal walls, than do immoveable bones themselves ; so 
 also in man, it is safest when vomiting is about to occur, to bend the thighs 
 towards the abdomen, lest the effort of vomiting should give rise to a hernia, 
 through the abdominal rings or under Poupart's ligament. Hence also it 
 seems ill advised to extend with bandages the thighs of recently born children, 
 in whom the peritoneal processes leading into the scrotum have not yet be- 
 come contracted or closed. Nature has already taught them at that age to 
 draw the thighs towards the abdomen, and this may be the main prevention 
 against the passage of the intestines, through the abdominal rings, along with 
 the testes in children, whilst enclosed in the uterus. The lower an animal 
 walks with bended thighs, the narrower will be, in that animal, the os ilium, 
 and the more does it seem pressed hard as it were against the sacrum through- 
 out its whole length ; so that a series, perhaps uninterrupted, might be formed 
 or admitted, from man, in whom the broadest os ilium comparatively is united 
 with the os sacrum almost at a right angle, to the mole, in which animal an 
 extremely narrow os ilium evidently unites throughout its whole length with 
 the lateral margin of the os sacrum, the great ischiatic notch having entirely 
 disappeared. 
 
 I shall here stop, reserving all further observations for the distinct heads of 
 your dissertation, to which they may refer. It remains for me to express hopes 
 for your enjoyment of health ; that many may owe their health to you ; and 
 that you remain a steady cultivator of the sciences especially requiring support 
 in these times of trouble, commotion, and dreadful wars. Farewell. 
 
 FISCHER ON THE PELYIS OF THE MAMMALIA. 
 
 1st Man. Section 1. Nature has given to the human race the broadest and 
 most depressed pelvis of any animal, seemingly required by his erect position, 
 and by the size of the head of the foetus ; by the spreading out of the ossa 
 ilium the intestines are supported, and by the capacity of the female pelvis, a 
 ready exit is provided for the fully grown foetus. 
 
 Section 2. The pelvis of other mammals is longer and narrower than the 
 human ; and the bones of the ilium scarcely diverge, but ascend almost 
 straight, or parallel. 
 
 Section 3. In mankind, the superior aperture of the smaller, or true, pel- 
 vis, presents a plane, nearer the horizontal ; whilst in other animals, the line 
 drawn from the promontory of the os sacrum to the superior angle of the 
 symphysis of the pubis, called the conjugate diameter, descends more perpen- 
 dicularly ; hence, in mankind, the transverse is larger than the conjugate 
 diameter ; in other mammals it is less, with a few exceptions, as in the pelvis 
 of the horse, the buffalo, and the dromedary. 
 
 Section 4. The quadrumana most nearly resemble the human structure, 
 and this holds also of the pelvis, and amongst these, chiefly the simia satyrus. 
 The Bellua follow these, chiefly the Elephant, &c.; then the solidungela, 
 
FISCHEK ON THE PELVIS OF THE MAMMALIA. 11 
 
 (horses) ; pecora (cattle, deer, &c.) ; bradipoda (ant eaters) ; cheiroptera, 
 (bats). The savage, or flesh-eating animals (carnivora), follow these ; and last 
 of all, the rodents. Note. The reader is cautioned here, that I adopt the 
 classification of my illustrious teacher, Blumenbach, as contained in his Com- 
 pendium of Natural History, fifth edition, Grottingen, 1797 ; and in measuring 
 the pelvis, I have used the Parisian foot. 
 
 2nd Quadrumana. Section 5. The os sacrum is narrower and plainer in 
 all the quadrumana than in mankind. Its external margins do not, as in the 
 latter, converge downwards, but continue parallel with itself. The excavation 
 of the pelvis in the quadrumana is less spherical than in the human race, 
 which seems to be proved by the observations just mentioned ; and that apes, so 
 like us in other respects, are ill adapted for the upright position in walking ; 
 and that the head of the foetus of the quadrumana is already more elongated, 
 after the manner of the brute animal, than globose, or rounded, as in man. 
 Even in the quadrumana, then, the pelvis has already assumed a character 
 wholly animal. That cercopithecus, mentioned above, shews a sacrum com- 
 posed of three vertebrae distinctly separated from each other, and evidently 
 resembliug those of the loins, and first coccygeal vertebrae, with the exception 
 of the lateral appendages. The os ilium is elongated, its abdominal portion 
 obviously defective, or wanting, unless you feel disposed to take for it the 
 broad anterior margin of the bone. The symphysis of the pubis is elongated, 
 and the tuberosities of the ischion bent outwards, so that the true pelvis 
 already shews that the fully formed semicanal, of which we have taken notice 
 above, and the entire pelvis, already strikingly resembles that of a small car- 
 nivorous animal, or of a squirrel. It is worth while recollecting how the 
 mode in this order of animals is changed, as regards the birth of the foetus, 
 which, in mankind, presents by the occiput ; in the mere animal, by the 
 face*. The spinous processes in man are not so prominent, neither do they 
 run together. In the quadrumana, they project more than in man, and in- 
 cline downwards. The number of sacral vertebrae varies in the quadrumana 
 two in the cercopithecus paniscus ; three in the cercopithecus jacko ; three 
 also in the simia lar, sylvanus f, the papio mormon, and maimon, the 
 lemur rnongom, the simia sajou, apella (Lin.), have each respectively four J ; 
 The simia troglodytes has five. || ; and the sai, capucina (L), is said to 
 have six. The simia troglodytes then, as regards the sacrum, most resembles 
 man. The sacral foramina differ in number according to the varying number 
 of the vertebrae. 
 
 Section 6. Os Coccygis. In respect of the number of coccygeal vertebrae, 
 the order simise, they may be divided into those with tails and those without. 
 The simia jannus has two coccygeal vertebrae ; the sylvanus and the lar three 
 each; the troglodytes and the satyrus four each, which is the number in 
 man ; but these vertebrae are broader and larger than the human, excepting 
 the first, which unites with the last vertebrae of the sacrum : nor do they 
 incline so much towards the cavity of the pelvis, but descend more directly, 
 
 * Ed. Tyson. Anat. Pigmy. Lond. 1699. 4. t P. Camper. Dusseldorf, 1791. 4 Tab. 3, fig. 
 7. Galen, Liber de ossib. Cap XL, in which book he has substituted the anatomy of the 
 ape to that of man. J W. Joseph!. Auatom. &c. Getting., 1787. Tab. 5, fig. 2 || Tyson 
 1. c. p. 89. 
 
12 FISCHER ON THE PELYIS OF THE MAMMALIA. 
 
 and hence, according to Tyson, it arises that the coccyx in the troglodytes 
 forms a protuberance under the skin (in this respect) the human embryo 
 strongly resembles the simiae.* The Lemur tardigradus has five coccygeal 
 vertebrae ; the papio mormon eight ; the papio maimon twenty ; the circo- 
 pithecus jacho twenty- seven ; the lemur mongoz and cercopithecus saniscus 
 thirty-three. The number of coccygeal vertebrae is never so constant as in 
 man ; whence it happens that the numbers observed by different persons vary, 
 often very much even in the same species. " The reason of this variation is to 
 be sought for in the observers themselves, not in the animals ; and to be con- 
 tained in the difficulty of deciding amongst the separate vertebrae of the pelvis, 
 what vertebrae are to be assigned to the sacrum, and what to the coccyx. 
 Three vertebrae only in the cercopithecus I have described can be assigned to 
 the sacrum. The wing-shaped portion of the first vertebrae on each side is the 
 only one which has a distinct union with the os ilium, quite otherwise there- 
 fore than in man, in whom the symphysis with the ilium extends as far as 
 and includes the first, second, and third, spurious, that is sacral vertebrae. 
 The two vertebrae which in the circo-pithecus now follow, and which form 
 with the first coccygeal vertebrae a kind of obtuse promontary in the middle 
 of the pelvis, have broad thin transverse processes, truncated at their extre- 
 mities, which unite with each other and with the first vertebrae by the angles 
 of their apices, or summits, and by means of a cartilaginous substance and a 
 ligamentous expansion ; the same is effected by an osseous substance in the 
 schunk, musteta, &c. Next come four coccygeal vertebrae perforated, short, 
 with narrow transverse processes and oblique processes still rather large, the 
 first of which has still a vestage of the dorsal spinous process, but the second 
 first shews the abdominal spinous process to be described below. The sixth 
 coccygeal vertebrae still shows on its upper surface the remains of the excava- 
 vation (foramen pro medulla spinali) which almost immediately ceases." 
 Autenreith. 
 
 The first six vertebrae of the occyx in the cercopithecus-jacho, pa- 
 niscus, papio maimon, lemur mongoz, and briefly, in all the long-tailed 
 quadrumana, have true spinous processes which tend somewhat obliquely up- 
 wards ; from the same there proceed obliquely upwards on either side ascending 
 oblique processes, the rounded extremity of which is united to the posterior 
 surface of the descending oblique processes of the vertebrae above. Their 
 transverse processes are sufficiently long, inclining downwards and backwards. 
 These six superior vertebrae of the coccyx are perforated, which holds also in 
 the tail-less apes, in whom for the most part the os coccygis is composed of 
 three vertebrae, the simia troglodytes and satyrus excepted. In the last per- 
 forated vertebrae of the coccyx exists the end of the canal for the spinal 
 marrow, which Galen asserted also of man ; f but already this error had 
 been exposed by Vasalius, J who shewed that in man the canal for the spinal 
 marrow extended no farther than the os sacrum. The remaining coccygeal 
 vertebrae are longer, but towards the terminations they again become shorter 
 and more slender. The longest vertebrae of this region in the papio maimon 
 
 * P. Camper; 1. c. p. 186. 
 
 t Galen. Lib. de Ossibus. C. xi. 
 
 % Vasalii de corp. human, fabrica. Basil, 1555. Ejus epistola rationem modamque, &c., 
 &c. Basil, 1546, p.p. 49. 
 
FISCHER ON THE PELYIS OF THE MAMMALIA. 13 
 
 is 5'" ; in the cercopithecus paniscus, 1" 3'" ; in the lemur mongoz, 1" 6'". 
 Each vertebrae may be divided into a body, an inferior and a superior extre- 
 mity. The body is oblong, and includes four unequal surfaces. The upper 
 extremity, thicker than the inferior, has a rounded articular surface, uniting 
 to itself the preceding vertebrae. Around this surface there are tuberculous 
 processes. Two of these processes are divided, so that in the terminating ver- 
 tebrae there are six processes present. The lower extremity of the vertebrae 
 ends in an articular surface, around which three processes only are placed. 
 The tuberosities, placed around the joints or articulations, looking upwards, 
 evidently correspond to, or originate in, the oblique and transverse .processes of 
 the superior vertebrae, altered in their form. 
 
 In the cercopithecus, already so often mentioned, the elongated vertebrae of 
 the os coccygis are evidently similar to those described in the former para- 
 graph, at that place where they rise above the posterior margin of the pelvis. 
 In the tubercle placed around the superior articular surface, itself inferior and 
 bifid, the two first vertebra of the more distinct portion of the tail, properly 
 so called, as well as the three other vertebra?, placed between the beginning 
 of the distinct tail, and the sacral vertebrae, have a spinous process, quite 
 similar to that which, in the dorsal vertebrae, looks backwards. This little 
 bone is forked with two diverging crura, leaving between them a foramen, 
 resting on the tubercles around the articulation, and looking towards the ab- 
 domen with the apex downwards. These abdominal spinous processes are 
 united to the bodies of the vertebrae by a cartilage, or rather to the interme- 
 diate fibro-cartilage than to the vertebrae themselves. It is worthy of being 
 mentioned, that these same abdominal spinous processes are not only found in 
 the mus and the mustela, but also in the dolphin. Tyson, in his work on the 
 Anatomy of the Porpoise, describes them in these words " Besides the pro- 
 cesses already mentioned, I find on the abdominal aspect of the vertebrae, 
 other processes opposite to the dorsal spinous processes, connected with their 
 intermediate fibro-cartilages. They consist of two slender little bones, joined 
 at one extremity, and separated at the other, so that their bases form a series 
 of foramina, through which run a number of blood vessels, in a manner quite 
 similar to the medulla spinalis in the canal formed by the dorsal spinous pro- 
 cesses. These processes, like all others of the vertebrae, gradually decrease 
 as they approach the first caudal vertebrae, until at last they entirely disap- 
 pear. A^titenreith. 
 
 Section 7. Ossa innominata. These bones, before they reach the adult 
 state, are composed, as all agree, each of three bones, first, the os ilium ; 
 second, the os pubis ; third, the os ischium. 1. The os ilium, in the quadru- 
 niana differs widely from that of man.* For these bones do not diverge so 
 much, nor do they form a cavity so large and distinct as in man, but ascend, 
 diverging only a little as it were, upwards from the middle of the acetabulum ; 
 they have a triangular form, and are slender and much longer than in man. 
 The body of the os ilium, or at least that portion of it which, with the op 
 ischium and the pubis, assists in forming the acetabulum, is broader in the 
 quadrumana than in man, when compared with the superior crest, for the crest 
 in the quadrumana is broader than the body only by some lines ; whereas in 
 
 * W. Joseph! 1. c., Tab. v , Fig. 2. P. Camper 1. c., Tab. iii., Fig. 7. 
 D 
 
14 FISCHER ON THE PELVIS OF THE MAMMALIA. 
 
 man the crest is 7" 6"' broad, the body only 2" 6'". The external surface is 
 broad in man, and marked with separated fluctuating lines ; in the quadru- 
 mana it is narrow, almost perpendicular, and deeply excavated, especially 
 forwards behind the anterior margin ; this happens especially in the simia 
 sajou and sylvanus. The internal surface is composed, in many quadrumana, of 
 three smaller ones first, an anterior ; second, a posterior and inferior ; and 
 third, a superior and posterior. The superior anterior surface is situated quite 
 anteriorly (this is the rudiment of the larger pelvis. Autenreith.) The poste- 
 rior and inferior surface looks more inwards, (and assists in forming a smaller 
 pelvis. Autenreith) The posterior and superior surface, rough and unequal, 
 forms the articular plane by which the os ilium is united to the os sacrum, and 
 embraces the superior, posterior, and broadest portion of the internal surface. 
 (In this surface is to be included that small portion which, at the back, overtops 
 the os sacrum. Autenreith,) In man, three margins are assigned to the os 
 ilium, an anterior, a superior, and an inferior posterior ; in the quadrumana also, 
 three are present, the anterior, the superior and posterior, which is indeed the 
 inferior margin in man, though being more parallel to the anterior, ought rather 
 to be called the posterior. The anterior margin is comparatively longer than in 
 man, and as long again as the superior. The superior margin, which is very 
 short, runs from the anterior to the posterior spine ; this spine touches, supe- 
 riorly, the os sacrum ; it is straighter in the simise, in some almost horizontal, 
 in others somewhat convex, as in the simia satyrus.* (In the cercopithecus, 
 the superior margin posteriorly is strongly curved downwards, anteriorly 
 making almost a straight line, and passing into the anterior margin of the os 
 ilium almost at a right angle ; as if with a knife you had divided the human 
 os ilium in the middle. Autenreith.) From the posterior spine there next 
 descends the posterior margin ; this is very long and composed of two equal 
 parts, the superior of which is perpendicular and joins the sacrum ; where 
 this articulation ceases the inferior portion of the posterior margin commences, 
 and is first curved anteriorly, then assumes a perpendicular direction as far as 
 the junction with the os ischium, and thus forms the incisura which in man is 
 called the superior ischiatic notch, without the aid of this bone. The varieties 
 in height, length, and breadth of the os ilium in different species of the quad- 
 rumana, may be seen in the annexed table of measurements. 
 
 Section 8. 2. The os pubis does not differ so much in the simiae from the 
 same bone in man as the os ilium. It is also divided into a horizontal and a 
 descending branch. The horizontal branch, extending from the anterior part 
 of the acetabulum to the spinous tubercle of the symphysis pubis inclusive, 
 is in man longer than the descending branch ; in the quadrumana, however, it 
 is shorter, and on its external surface has no crest or fissure. The descending 
 branch commencing at the spinous tuberosity or tubercle, descends, and, with 
 its fellow forms the symphisis pubis, is in the quadrumana much longer ; the 
 symphisis pubis is increased, and at the same time the depth of the pelvis, for 
 the bones of the pubis are connected, not merely by the angles between the 
 descending and horizontal branches, but the descending branches themselves 
 are united throughout their whole length ; nevertheless this structure does not 
 prevail in all, for in the lemur tardigradus they meet only by the angles. By 
 this junction there arises in some that keel formed projection, which is clearly 
 * Camper 1. c., Tab. iii., Fig. 7. A.B.C.D. 
 
FISCHER ON THE PELVIS OF THE MAMMALIA. 15 
 
 wanting in man. The greater length of the os ilium makes the conjugate dia- 
 meter of the pelvis greater than the transverse. 
 
 Section 9. 3. The os ischium in them also consists of an ascending and a 
 descending ramus. In man, the ischiatic spine is in the descending ramus, 
 which according to Meyer,* and Josephi, f the quadrumana have not, but in 
 its place a rough protuberance (as perhaps in all animals. Autenreith.) The 
 tuberosity of the ischium, on the other hand, is longer and broader in the 
 quadrumana, projecting more outwards and anteriorly, and especially remark- 
 able in the sirnia lar, the sylvanus, and the papio marmon. The ascending 
 ramus is more slender and narrower ; it ascends to the union with the os 
 pubis at a wider angle than in man. 
 
 Section 10. The acetabulurn is composed of these three bones, the greater 
 part by the ilium and ischium, the smaller part by the pubis, and therefore it 
 might happen that, in some species, the os pubis haa no share in the formation 
 of the acetabulum. This fact is contended for by Cunauld J and Meyer, || but 
 Joseph! doubts their opinion. (In the cercopithecus alluded to, the os pubis 
 .distinctly forms a portion of the acetabulum. Autenreitn.) The acetabulum 
 in the quadrumana is much more distant from the crest of the os ilium and 
 nearer to the sacrum, (as in all animals, Autenreith), but in other respects 
 differs little from the human, unless it be that the incisura of the acetabulum 
 is deeper and extends further towards the os ischium. 
 
 Section 11. Behind the acetabulum forwards, and downwards, the foramen 
 ovale is formed by the union of the os pubis and ischium. This foramen in 
 the quadrumana, with reference to the whole animal, is more and more oblong, 
 and is largest and almost round in the cercopithecus jaccho. The foramen ovale 
 can only be said to be larger in the quadrumana than in man, when the cavity 
 of the pelvis is compared with the area of the foramen, but it is less, if the size 
 of the whole animal be compared to it. Of all mammalia, man has the largest 
 pelvis, compared with the size of the whole body, and hence also it may arise 
 that he has the largest foramen ovale. It is still larger in woman, although 
 shorter than in man. In a male skeleton of elevated stature, I found the su- 
 perficies of the foramen ovale to be to the total length of the skeleton 
 
 as 991 to 1000; 
 
 In the female skeleton equally regular, as 1101 to 1000 ; 
 
 In the cercopithecus, already so often mentioned, as 357 to 1000 ; 
 In the rabbit, almost of the same size, as 392 to 1000. 
 
 It may be conjectured from these measurements by how much the smaller 
 pelvis in man exceeds that of animals, passing over here in silence the larger 
 pelvis ; this appears to be necessary, as well from his erect position as from 
 the larger size and rounder form of the foetal head. Autenreith.) 
 
 Section 12. 4. Bradypoda. The os sacrum of the bradypi-didactylus, and 
 myrmecophagus didactylus, is composed of four vertebrae. In the myrmeco- 
 phagus didactylus (L.) the spinous processes of the sacrum are of the same 
 
 * Augenehmer und nuzlicher Zeitbertreib mit Betrachtung curioser Vorstellungen aller- 
 hand Thiere, sowal nach ihrer gestalt als auch nach der Accuratess davon verfertigte Struk- 
 tur ihrer Scelete von Job. Dan. Meyer, Miniaturmahler. Niirnberg, 1748. 36. iii. Thle. 
 fol. p. 17. 
 
 t W. Josephi, A. D. S., p. 302. J Memoires de 1'acad. d. Scienc. de Paris. Anno 
 1735, p. 383. || Meyer 1. c., p. Josephi 1. c., p. 305. 
 
16 FISCHER ON THE PELYIS OF THE MAMMALIA. 
 
 height and thickness as those of the lumbar and dorsal vertebrae, so that the 
 passage of the one into the other cannot be perceived. The nine-banded Tatu 
 has three sacral vertebrae. 
 
 Section 13. The os coccygis of the bradypi-didactylus has eight vertebral ; 
 the nine-banded tatu, 28 ; the myrmecophega didactylus, 42. 
 
 Section 14. Ossa innominata. The internal surface of the os ilium is 
 curved in the middle, and has three smaller surfaces, a superior, inferior, and 
 internal ; the former are broad, the internal narrow. The external surface is 
 concave. The pubic bones of the myrmecophega didactylus have an opening 
 between them of a line and a half in extent. (Whether this hiatus, spoken of 
 as occupying the place of the symphysis pubis be real or not, is still to me very 
 doubtful ; in the skeleton of the European hedgehog, when freed of all soft 
 matter, the bones of the pubis have a gap between them of two lines and 
 more, but along a slender cartilage, which placed transversely forms the 
 symphysis in that animal, cannot escape the notice of the more careful observer. 
 The pelvis of the leasypus shews another form of the pelvis meriting notice, 
 and which will be described a little further on. Autenreith.) 
 
 Section 15. 4. Chiroptera. The vespertilio caninus, and the murinus, have 
 each four sacral vertebrae, but the caninus has three coccygeal vertebrae, the 
 murinus has ten. The seventh of these is larger than the others, and is four 
 lines long. Pallas * says of the vespertilio cephaloteide, that the bones of the 
 pelvis are slender, and do not meet at the pubis, lest this narrowness interfere 
 with the birth. In the caninus the os ilium is not three sided, as in the muri- 
 nus, but its external surface is very convex. Above the acetabulum there is a 
 very large spine. In the caninus the ossa pubis are slender, and meet each 
 other ; it is the same in the murinus. In the caninus the foramina ovalia are 
 broader than long. The bodies (tuberosities ?) of the bones of the ischium in 
 the vespertilio vampyre are plain, with cleft margins united together ; thus the 
 posterior aperture of the pelvis shut in by a continuous margin, is oval, the 
 horizontal branches of the bones of the pubis alone (angles between the hori- 
 zontal and descending branches alone ? A.) forming the symphisis and uniting 
 into a half circle, f The pelvis of the vespertilio murinus is remarkable for 
 the spinous tubercle of the os pubis extended into a very long spine. Accord- 
 ing to the drawing of Meyer this spine ascends still higher, so as to seem to 
 form a complete foramen, with a horizontal ramus of the os pubis, perhaps 
 joined by a ligament to the os ilum by its apex. To the spine the ligament of 
 Poupart is admitted by all to be attached. I could find neither this ligament 
 nor the perfect abdominal ring in the male masupialis didelphis ; the vessels 
 and crural nerves proceeded unprotected beneath the small accessory bones and 
 the margin of the acetabulum ; so that that little bone, which shuts in the ab- 
 dominal pouch in the didelphis, seems to me nothing else than the spine of the 
 pubis, composed of that little bone itself and its articulation with the hori- 
 zontal ramus of the pubis joined together. But this spine of the pubis seems 
 to arise simply from the ossification of the end of the ligament of Poupart, as 
 the tendons become ossified in the feet of birds, and so are united to the 
 
 * P. S. Pallas spicilegia zoologica. Fasc 3. Berol, 1787, p. 23. 
 
 t Cfr. G. F. Herman Disser. Observations et anecdota ex osteol, comp. Argent, 
 1792, 4. p. 12. 
 
FISCHEE ON THE PELYIS OF THE MAMMALIA. 17 
 
 bone without a distinct termination. Perhaps it is not to be wondered at, 
 that the same abdominal pouch, which had hitherto been noticed only in the 
 genus didelphis, has lately been detected in a species of New Holland Bat, 
 since this genus has such distinct spines of the os pubis. The skin seems to 
 gape in these species between the spines, as it does in the human monstrosi- 
 ties, in whom the bones of the pubis gapes, being united by no symphysis ; 
 as likewise happens to those with hare lips, in whom the maxillary bones 
 are not united ; the skin of the head is also wanting in those foetuses, in which 
 a great portion of the vault of the cranium is deficient. Since it so happens 
 that in almost all animals the teats are placed in the lower part of the abdo- 
 men, it may be the more readily comprehended why they are placed in the ab- 
 dominal pouch. Nevertheless, all these considerations offer no sufficient ex- 
 planation of the peculiarities in the structure of the internal genital organs in 
 the didelphis. 
 
 Very broad, slender, and almost papyraceous ascending and descending 
 rami of the os ischium still further distinguish the pelvis of the vespertilio 
 murinus ; like that large osseous lamina in the situation of the manubriuin of 
 the sternum, and like the broad osseous terminations of the inferior ribs at 
 their sternal extremities. The foramen ovale is very small, but truly oval ; the 
 conjugate diameter is very long and oblique ; the bones of the ilium, elongated 
 and linear, are inclined backwards, triangular, with margins slightly winged ; 
 of the three surfaces of this bone, the anterior is the only one between which 
 the bodies of the sacral vertebrae project ; the other posterior is internal, the 
 third posterior external. The symphysis of the pubis is very short ; the de- 
 scending branches of this bone, and the ascending ramii of the ischium, proceed 
 as in man. Between those branches the inferior aperture of the pelvis is 
 narrow, perhaps in the male, but the greater pelvis, always broader, ascends 
 backwards, covered only by the very narrow sacrum and the still narrower os 
 coccyx, or perhaps rather longitudinally divided into a right and a left portion. 
 The anterior coccygeal vertebrae have very short and broad transverse processes, 
 cut short at the apex and the margins almost running together ; the vertebras 
 of the distinct portion of the tail are elongated, very slender and simple. The 
 pelvis viewed generally, with a reference to the thorax, is very small ; can it 
 be that the pelvis of the female bat is so narrow, lest the weight of a broader 
 pelvis should interfere with her flight ! or, that the mother may more easily 
 carry along with her in her flight the young, adhering to the jjiammge upon 
 her broad breast ? also; in a manner, as the young of the didelphis born in an 
 imperfect state, are finally developed after birth, whilst adhering to the 
 mammse. Autenreith. 
 
 Section 16. 5. Glire*. Rodentia, or Gnawers. In very many rodents the 
 os sacrum is composed of three vertebrae, as in the common mouse, the rat, 
 the woodmouse, the common squirrel, &c. ; four in the hare, the 
 guinea-pig, the aguti, and the crested porcupine ; five in the alpine marmot, 
 and in the beaver. In this order of the mammalia the lumbar vertebrae pass 
 gradually into the sacral, and the sacral into the coccygeal. The posterior 
 portion of the os sacrum is somewhat more slender than the anterior, yet in 
 some, as in the mouse, both portions have the same breadth. 
 
 Section 17. In this natural family of animals, the coccygeal vertebra are 
 numerous ; the guinea-pig has six, the crested porcupine ten, the hare sixteen 
 
18 FISCHER ON THE PELVIS OF THE MAMMALIA. 
 
 the common squirrel twenty-one, the field-mouse twenty-four, the common 
 mouse twenty-eight, and the rat thirty-six.* 
 
 The very great diversity which affects the forms of the pelvis in this order 
 of animals, enjoins the necessity of separating animals of the hare from those 
 of the mouse and squirrel tribe, which are intermediate between each order. 
 The hare and the rabbit have the sacrum commencing by a broad ver- 
 tebra, then indeed already towards the second vertebra becoming acumi- 
 nated and extremely narrow throughout the rest of the vertebrae, sacral 
 and coccygeal. The transverse processes of the sacral vertebrae are de- 
 ficient, and in their place on each side a short-winged margin, unbroken, 
 accomparies all these vertebrae. The sacral vertebrae in the hare readily run 
 together. The sacrum of the hare is more curved than that of the rabbit, and 
 looks backwards. In the rat, however, and in the mouse, the os sacrum is 
 straight ; and although it be very narrow, it yet, by its broad and confluent 
 transverse processes, forms a covering for the pelvis, completed by the liga- 
 mentous expansions, so that, at the side, there scarcely remains a vestige of the 
 great sciatic notch. The transverse processes of the three anterior sacral ver- 
 tebrae in the mouse and the rat are nearly equal, excepting that the process of 
 the first vertebra is thicker and stronger than the others, and unites with the 
 os ilium. The transverse processes of the second and third sacral vertebrae 
 are broad, thin, and truncated, and they run together by the angles of their 
 extremities. The transverse processes of the six coccygeal vertebrae following 
 the last sacral are narrower, slender, free at their summits, enlarged, and bent 
 forwards. The elongated vertebrae of the distinct tail have much in common 
 with the coccygeal vertebrae of the cercopetheci. Between the third and 
 fourth, fourth and fifth, fifth and sixth, sixth and seventh coccygeal vertebra?, 
 abdominal spinous processes are also found in the rat and in the mouse ; these 
 are formed of a small hollow bone, having the figure of a pole-axe or halbert. 
 The squirrel, as regards the os sacrum, holds, as it were, a middle place between 
 the hare and the mouse ; for the transverse processes of its three sacral ver- 
 tebrae do not run together into a continuous margin, as in the hare, nor, has 
 the os sacrum so great a breadth as in the mouse genus ; but although it be 
 acuminated backwards, it does not become so narrow. It agrees, then, with 
 the rat in this respect, that the transverse processes of the first, and in the 
 squirrel of the first three coccygeal vertebrae, are broad, and so assist in com- 
 pleting the covering of the pelvis : on the other hand, they agree with the 
 rabbit in this* that transverse processes appear in some of the coccygeal ver- 
 tebrae in that place, where, finally the tail becomes distinct. Autenreith. 
 
 Section 18. The ossa innominata of the rodents are very long. The super- 
 fices of the os ilium in the beaver presents three surfaces, of which one, the 
 superior, is very broad ; a second, inferior and internal, is concave ; a third, 
 inferior, is external. The os ilium of the alpine marmot has also three sur- 
 faces an internal and two external. 
 
 Concerning the bones of the mouse consult Merres.f " Das Darmbein ist 
 sehr lang und schmal, und hat an seiner oberu Flache einen erhabenen Strich 
 der gerade bis zum Hiiftbein fortlaiift, und daselbst iiber dor Pfanne des 
 Schenkelbeins eine kleine stumpfe Erhabenheit bildet. Das Hiiftbein wird 
 
 * Blasius Merrem vermischte Abhandlungen aus der Thiergeschichte' Gott. 1781, 
 p 6J. t HI. Merrem, 1. c. 
 
FISCHER ON THE PELYIS OP THE MAMMALIA. 19 
 
 nachher sehr breit und bildet mit dem sclimalen Schambeine eine selir grosse 
 ingliclite Oeffnung." 
 
 The symphysis of the pubis is always osseous in the beaver (the symphysis 
 of the bones of the pubis is sometimes found osseous not only in the horse, 
 but also in the aged dog, and in the fox, which seems to prove that in these 
 animals, during parturition, there is no force acting against this symphysis 
 as in woman. Autenreith.') The foramina ovalia are very large in this order, 
 especially in the common squirrel. The ossa innominata in the glires suffi- 
 ciently resemble each other, in as far as regards the os ilium : for they are 
 narrow, convex on their external surface, so as to appear obtusely carinated, 
 with an internal concave surface, almost canaliculated towards the apex, and 
 bent outwards with a rounded subacute summit. The hare alone has the 
 superior extremity of the os ilium larger and less convex than the rest. The 
 os ilium of the rabbit is shorter, but broader, according to the size of the 
 animal. There exists, however, this principal difference : that in the hare 
 and in the rabbit the symphysis of the pubis is very long, so as to form a 
 semi-canal, in the hare but little turned upwards ; and that the branches of 
 the os ischium meet under an acute angle, and the three-sided tuberosities of 
 the os ischium much extended backwards, so that there is a deep fissure of 
 the pelvis between them. On the other hand, as has been mentioned above, 
 the mures have a very short symphysis, and the branches of the os ischium 
 not only unite at a right angle in a very slender tuberosity, but also almost at 
 the same angle with the descending branches of the os pubis. The squirrel 
 holds, as it were, a medium between the mus and the hare ; it has a 
 distinct tuberosity of the os ischium, but like the rat, it has the branches of 
 the os ischium meeting almost at a right angle. Autenreith. 
 
 Section 19. 6. Ferae. The greatest variety of the bones of the pelvis ex- 
 ists in this artificial order of animals, both as regards size, as between the 
 shrew (sorex fodiens) and the polar bear ; and as regards form, as between 
 the european mole, the lion, and the gigantic didelphis. The os sacrum is 
 composed in most of the ferse of three vertebrae, which number is by no means 
 so constant and frequent in any ether order ;* in some species, however, there 
 are exceptions, as in the didelphis oppossum, and gigantea, in which the sacrum 
 has two vertebra ; in the european mole, and in the ursus arctos, the os sacrum 
 five vertebrae. Blumenbach f says of the os sacrum of the european mole 
 " Beim Maulwurf hat es langst seiner Hinterseite statt der Dornfortsaze einen 
 ununterbrochenen schneidenden Riicken, der dem kleinen Thiere bei seiner 
 unterirrdischen Lebenstart besonders aber bei der Weise, wieer die mit den 
 Vorderfiissen losgegrabene Erde mit den Hinterfussen. hinter sich wirft, sehr 
 zu statten Kommt." Daubenton J says " The first vertebra of the sacrum 
 has no spinous process ; those of the remaining four are united to each other, 
 forming an osseous crest." 
 
 Section 20. In nearly all the ferse the tail is long, and the coccygeal 
 vertebra? are numerous ; the European mole has 12, the common weasel 14, the 
 stoat 16, the fox and the shrew 19, the civet cat 22, the common cat and the 
 leopard 23, the common otter 25, the genett cat 28, and the opossum 29. 
 The superior of these vertebrae are perforated by a canal for the spinal mar- 
 
 t T. F. Blumenbach, Beschreibung der Knochen. p. 305. 
 | Histoire Naturelle, Tom. viii. 4, p. 103. 
 
20 FISCHER ON THE PELVIS OF THE MAMMALIA. 
 
 row. The middle vertebrae are the longest, especially 7 of them ; in the lion 
 the length of the longest vertebra is 2", 2'", in the leopard I' 1 , 2"', in the 
 didelphis opossum 10'", in the common weasel (mustela vulgaris) 2"'. The 
 mustela vulgaris has abdominal spinous processes, like those of the rat, but 
 the mustela putorius has short broad abdominal spinous processes between 
 the first caudal vertebrae ; these processes have the summit bifid. The hedge- 
 hog seems rather to have sesamoid bones at the joints of the coccygeal verte- 
 brae, than true abdominal spinous processes. Autewreith. 
 
 Section 21. Ossa innominata. As the length and proportions of these 
 bones, whether compared with each other or with the other bones of the pelvis, 
 may be best seen by inspecting the table of dimensions at the end of the dis- 
 sertation, I shall here only speak of what seems most worthy of notice. The 
 pelvis of the genus didelphis, in addition to the usual number of bones, has 
 two which all other animals want. The didelphis, as is well known, has a 
 pouch in the lower part of the abdomen, in which the young live after they are 
 born until they have attained a fitting age. This pouch is supported by two 
 bones, which may be called its janitors. EdwardTysonf has left us an excellent 
 description of these bones of the pelvis in the opossum. " These marsupal 
 bones, or janitores marsupii, are two strong bones, in length about two 
 inches, and so united to the superior and inferior margins of the bones of the 
 pubis, that at their base, where they unite with the bones of the pubis, they 
 touch each other, whilst at their other extremity they are distant from each 
 other by about two and a half inches. At the basis, two heads may be seen, 
 about half an inch broad ; the larger one turned towards the symphysis of the 
 os pubis, the other, the smaller one, towards the haunch bone, together with 
 an intermediate sinus between these heads, in which is received a certain pro- 
 tuberance of the os pubis. (In the didelphis, the protuberance of the os pubis 
 does not correspond to the marsupial sinus, but a certain obtuse notch of 
 the margin of the os pubis corresponds to it. AutenreitJi.) These bones, 
 which as they ascend from the bones of the pubis become more slender, and 
 about the middle do not exceed a quarter of an inch in length, cannot be 
 moved towards each other, nor from each other, but inwards, as it were towards 
 the spine, and outwards from it." Whilst, however, they are moved outwards, 
 they are of necessity widened, whilst inwards they are closed, because their 
 bases by turns form an angle. The bones of the pubis and of the ischium are 
 very large and long in the gigantic didelphis ; the os ischium is likewise as long 
 as the os ilium. The rami of the os pubis and ischium are so united that no 
 angle exists between the branches of the os ischium in the inferior aperture of 
 the pelvis. The foramina ovalia are very long, and the acetabulum placed in 
 the middle length of the pelvis has no notch. The ossa pubis of the European 
 mole are separated from each other ; in the shrew the distance is three lines. 
 BlumenbachJ says" Unter den vierfiissigen saugthieren hat der Maulwurf 
 wol eins der sonderbarsten Beken. Es ist so eng und schmal, dass es ausser 
 einigen schlanken Muskeln, bios Kerven und Blutgefasse zu fassen, im stande 
 
 t Mich. Bernh. Valentin! amphitheatrum Zootomicum. Giesse 1720, fol. p. 132, et deli- 
 neatio horum ossium in Tab. xxvi., Fig. 5. Praestantissimam delineationem pelvis didelphidis 
 giganteae dedit E. Home, in commentatione sua: Observations on the mode of generation of 
 the Kangaroo in Philosophical Transactions, 1795 ; 4 Tab., xxi. 
 
 * T. F. Blumenbach, Geschichte und Beschreibung der Knochen, p. 328. 
 
F1SCHEK ON THE PELVIS OF THE MAMMALU. 21 
 
 ist, hingegen die Geburtstheile olerhalb tier Schambeiue sich offnen miissen. 
 The genital organs of tlie European mole by 110 means open above the sym- 
 physis of the pubis, but beneath it, as in all other mammals. There is this 
 important difference, however, that not only the vagina and urethra, but like- 
 wise the whole urinary bladder and the rectum, are placed beyond (extra) this 
 symphysis of the pubis ; almost as in those human monstrosities wherein the 
 ossa pubis not meeting mesially, the urinary bladder hangs beyond the sym- 
 physis. The ossa ilium of the mole, as has been already mentioned, are united 
 throughout their whole length to the os sacrum : but where the acetabula are 
 placed there commences a very narrow and scarcely perforated excavation of 
 the pelvis. The symphysis of the bones of the pubis, united, however, by no 
 intermediate cartilage, is there found behind the intestinum rectum. From 
 this incomplete symphysis, which is either very short or very long, the rami of 
 the bones of the pubis descend, gradually widening and becoming more distant 
 from the coccyx. There arises an oblong cavity anteriorly very narrow, ample 
 posteriorly, open inferiorly, in the exit of the pelvis, between the bones which 
 on each side form the foramina ovalia. Into this excavation there descends 
 the intestinum rectum after it has passed over and beyond the symphysis of 
 the pubis, and in the same excavation there lie a long vagina and double 
 horned uterus, with lenticular-shaped ovaria, all of which organs in the unim- 
 pregnated state are very small ; the urinary bladder with the urethra lies over 
 them. The recti muscles of the abdomen, divided as it were towards their 
 pelvic extremity, surround the neck of the bladder, and at their insertion into 
 the pelvis provide, as it were, a place for it. The angle which the descending 
 rami of the os pubis form with the ischium, differs from that of other mam- 
 mals, being acute, and descends much lower than the position of the tuberosi- 
 ties of the os ischium. (The pelvis of the sorex is very similar to that of the 
 mole, but its symphysis is still more open, and the pelvic excavation is larger, 
 as if to afford a space for containing the internal genital organs as in other 
 mammals. Autenreith.) The following description of the ossa iunominata of 
 the hyena, has been taken from Daubenton. " The haunchbone of the wolf 
 is proportionally shorter and larger anteriorly than that of the leopard, but 
 the same bone in the hyena, is still shorter and larger than that of the wolf ; 
 the inferior part of this anterior extremity is greatly extended and spread out- 
 wards. The foramina ovalia differ from those of the leopard in this respect, 
 that they are as wide as long. The groove formed by the reunion of the bones 
 of the pubis, and of the ischium on each, side, is proportionally shorter than 
 in the leopard, and even than in the wolf." The structure of the pelvis might 
 safely be taken as a means for dividing the class ferae into two more natural 
 classes. The larger ferse, and which are truly carnivorous, as the felis, cards, 
 viverra, and mustela, have the ossa ilia smooth, excavated on their external 
 surface, and joined to the os sacrum by a very small portion on their inner 
 surface ; the symphysis of the bones of the pubis is in them elongated. But 
 in the smaller ferae living on a variety of food, vegetable as well as animal, as 
 in the opossum, hedgehog, sorex, mole, and bat, which are all distinguished 
 by their anterior teeth from the former, in these the ossa ilium are three- 
 sided, stick-shaped, and joined to tlie sacrum by almost their whole length. 
 1 Daubenton, Histoire uat. T. ix., p. 294. 
 
22 FISCHER ON THE PELVIS OF THE MAMMALIA. 
 
 The symphysis of the pubis is in them, with the exception of the didelphisj 
 either very short or sometimes evidently wanting ; the bones of the ischium, 
 as in the genus mus, are flattened, very broad, thin, and the position of the 
 tuberosities is nearer to the promontary, than are the angles in which the de- 
 scending rami of the pubis meet with those of the ischium. The pelvis of the 
 hedgehog, at the symphysis of the pubis, is remarkable for a wide hiatus be- 
 tween the bones, nor is this opposite to the acetabulum, but much lower down, 
 and seems to arise from a very acute union of the rami of the pubis and 
 ischium ; it remarkably resembles in form the pelvis of birds, as of the pigeon, 
 &c. ; on the other hand, the pelvis of the mole, by the union of the os 
 sacrum and ilium into a single osseous lamina, seems also to pass partly into 
 the form of the pelvis of the bird. We have already noticed the distinguish- 
 ing characters in the pelvis of the bats (Aiitenreith) . 
 
 Section 22. 7. Solidungula. As the horse is the most important of all the 
 animals connected with the veterinary art, I shall dwell longer on the descrip- 
 tion of its pelvis. Five vertebra? compose the os sacrum, which in youth are 
 both separated and connected by cartilages ; by degrees, however, as the car- 
 tilages ossify they become contiguous, so that at last no vestiges of their 
 original separation remain. The os sacrum shows two margins, and two sur- 
 faces a superior or external, and an inferior or internal ; also a base and apex 
 to be considered separately. The broad margins anteriorly show a consider- 
 able surface, full of tuberosities and little depressions, serving to unite it with 
 the os ilium ; this surface of the margins is called by some the sigmoid or 
 semilunar aspect. The external, or superior convex surface, is tuberous, and 
 furnished with several prominences : in the middle there arise five separate 
 and distinct spinous processes ; the second of these is the longest, but it is also 
 the slenderest : the rest gradually decrease in size and thickness, terminating 
 in a quadrangular little head in the apex. I have often found these spinous 
 processes united together. Between the bases of these processes there are 
 four foramina, communicating- with the vertebral canal. Close to these, on 
 each side, there are other four foramina, which also lead into the vertebral 
 canal. The inner, or inferior surface of the sacrum, is concave and without 
 tubercles. Near the margins it is perforated by four foramina ; between each 
 pair of these holes there is an elevated transverse line, the remains of the 
 former intermediate cartilages. The anterior portion of the base of the sacrum 
 is the broadest ; in the middle of this base is a broad, oval, articular surface. 
 Above this articular surface, is the triangular opening of the canal of the 
 sacrum passing throughout its whole length ; this is a continuation of the 
 vertebral canal. Close to the aperture of this canal, there arise two oblique 
 processes each an inch long, and having the same direction as the correspond- 
 ing processes of the lumbar vertebra?. On each side of the sacrum, and towards 
 the side of the articular surface, there arise two large prominences which unite 
 with the transverse processes of the last lumbar vertebra ; by some these are 
 called the articular tuberosities. On the apex of the os sacrum may be ob- 
 served a small, oval, articular surface, connecting this bone to the first coccy- 
 geal vertebra. 
 
 Section 23. The coccygeal vertebrae vary much in number. The usual 
 
FISCHER ON THE PELVIS OF THE MAMMALIA. 23 
 
 number is 18 ; the eight anterior are the longest. The first and second 
 coccygeal vertebrae are composed of a body, a spinous process, and two promi- 
 nent transverse processes. Through these, and through the third, fourth, and 
 fifth vertebrae, the vertebral canal is prolonged, and there it terminates. The 
 last vertebras have no spinous processes, but only small tubercles in their 
 place. The coccygeal vertebrae ought to be divided into two distinct classes, 
 not only in the genus Equus and Simia, but in all mammal quadrupeds : into 
 the perforated, which contribute to the formation of the pelvis and contain 
 the termination of the medulla ; and the imperforated, which form the more . 
 distinct tail. The former are shorter than the latter, but for the most part 
 have spinous processes, often transverse processes, and always oblique pro- 
 cesses ; the posterior coccygeal vertebra are elongated, and in place of pro- 
 cesses, in every genus of animals with tails, have merely tubercles around the 
 articular surfaces. Man evidently wants the first kind and has the second. 
 (Autenreith.} / 
 
 Section 24. Ossa innominata. These bones in the young horse, as in all 
 other mammals, are composed of three the os ilium, ischium, and pubis. The 
 os ilium is triangular, and outwards from that angle which is distant from the 
 sacrum, is bent ; the external aspect is concave and without tubercles : the 
 internal on the other hand, regarded as a whole, is convex, and hence from 
 the middle of the crest of the illium, as far as the superior spine, it is full of 
 tuberosities and impressions ; at this part the os ilium unites with the sacrum. ' 
 Towards the lower part of the os ilium, almost about the middle of its inner 
 surface, a line begins to be formed, which passes obliquely as far as the inner 
 surface of the os pubis, and there terminates ; by which line the pelvis is divi- 
 ded into a greater, or anterior, and a smaller, or posterior, according to the 
 nomenclature of these parts in man. In the horse, the abdominal portion of 
 the os ilium is so small, that the greater pelvis can scarcely be described in 
 that animal. (Autenreith.) The crest of the os ilium is not convex, but runs 
 almost in a straight line as far as the two tubercles, then suddenly contracts, 
 and descending again terminates in other two tubercles. The superior and 
 inferior margins of the os ilium are much excavated. The os ilium of the 
 horse is remarkable for its length, when compared with the horizontal 
 branches of the pubis which form the inferior margin of the pelvis, hence it 
 happens that in this very ample pelvis the acetabula and thigh-bones are never- 
 theless sufficiently near each other, and in this large animal a small space only 
 is observed between the thighs towards the lower part of the belly. (Auten* 
 reith.) The external surface of the os pubis is convex, the internal, concave. 
 It is divided into an anterior branch and a posterior. The anterior ramus has 
 a prominent line on its anterior margin, but more towards its internal surface, 
 however, which is called the crest of the pubis. In the anterior margin there also 
 arise on each side two prominences, which are called the spines of the pubis. 
 The posterior margin of the anterior ramus assists in the formation of the 
 foramen ovale. The external surface of the posterior ramus is convex, the in- 
 ternal, concave ; the external margin of this ramus forms the largest portion 
 of the foramen ovale, The os ischium may be divided into a body and two 
 branches, and it is very large when compared with the os pubis ; its upper ramus 
 forms by its internal concave margin the external border of the foramen ovale. 
 
FISCHER OX THE PELVIS OF THE MAMMALIA. 
 
 The inferior rami of the os ischiura are often united together by a symphysis, 
 which is frequently ossified ; its internal surface is concave, its external, con- 
 yex. The rami of the os ischium posteriorly form together an obtuse angle, 
 which is named " the angle" of the bones of the ischium, and they end in a 
 protuberance about an inch long, called the tuberosity of the ischium. 
 The acetabulum is oval, and deeply notched towards the anterior margin of the 
 foramen ovale ; formed as usual of the three pelvic bones, the os ilium, however 
 contributing the largest portion. The foramen ovale is formed by the os pubis 
 and os ischium, chiefly however by the latter.* 
 
 Section 25. 8. Pecora. In this order, or natural family, the os sacrum does 
 not present any great variety : in many species it is composed of four verte- 
 brae, as in the camelus, dromedarius, the cervus clephus, the antilope dor- 
 casete : in others, however, it has five vertebrae, as in the bos taurus, antilope 
 eupricapra, cervus dama, &c. 
 
 The external surface of the os sacrum in the ox is less convex ; its spinous 
 processes incline forward, and are united together, excepting the fifth, which 
 is very short, its length being only 9'", whilst the first of these processes 
 measures 2' 1 6'". The anterior portion of the os sacrum is not so broad as in 
 the horse ; moreover, it is not united to the transverse processes of the last 
 lumbar vertebra, 'for which reason it has no articular tuberosity. 
 
 Section 26. The coccygeal vertebrae are not so numerous in this class of 
 animals as in the preceding ; the antilope rupricapra (chamois) and the dorcas 
 have each ten vertebrae in the coccyx ; the goat twelve, according to Allamand ;f 
 in the giraffe there are eighteen ; in the buffalo fifteen, and in the ox eighteen. 
 In the ox the spinous processes, and on each side two transverse processes of 
 the seven anterior coccygeal vertebrae, are abated or withdrawn. The canal 
 for the spinal marrow extends in the ox to the eighth coccygeal vertebrae. 
 
 Section 27. The ossa innominata of the ox differ widely from those of the 
 horse ; the superior crest (angular process) of the os ilium is larger, and ter- 
 minates externally in a large tuberosity, which is especially evident in lean 
 cows. This spine (angular process) in the ox approaches nearer to the trans- 
 verse processes of the lumbar vertebrae, and therefore the distance between 
 them is not so great in the ox as in the horse. The bones of the ischion are 
 larger than those of the horse, both in length and breadth, and are so con- 
 nected together that the angle is more obtuse, for the distance between the 
 tuberosities of the bones of the ischion is 4" 6'", and the incisura shews 2" 
 4"'. The symphysis of the ossa pubis terminates in an eminence, called the 
 spine of the bones of the pubis . The posterior superior branches of the 
 bones of the ischion terminate in two tuberosities an upper one, to which is 
 attached the sacro-ischiatic ligament ; and an inferior, which is larger. I 
 need not speak of the other parts of the pelvis of the ox, as they so much 
 resemble those of the horse. The remaining group of this order have the 
 
 : * Delineationes ossium pelvis equini, vide, Ruini. Anatomia del Cavallo, Conf. Snape; 
 The Anatomy of the Horse; To idon. UiM. .o!.Yv. Gibson. Cf. New Treatise on the Dis- 
 eases of Horses; London. 1751. 4:o. -G. Stu'jbs; The Anatomv of the Horse. London. 1766. 
 fol. La Fosse ; Cours d'Hippiatr.que. Paris. 1772. fol. Tab. 9. Figures 24, 25, 26, 41, 42. 
 
 t In Huffon. Hist. Nat. Supplcm. T. vii. 4 , p. 356. 
 
 J Vitcf. .Med. Veterin. Lyon 1771-S, Tom. i., p. 88. 
 
FISCHER ON THE PELVIS OF THE MAMMALIA. 25 
 
 pelvis of a form greatly resembling that of the ox. I shall copy merely some 
 examples from Daubenton, who thus speaks of the buffalo : " Of the three 
 tuberosities formed by the posterior part of each os ischium, the inferior is 
 much longer from above downwards than the two superior, the more anterior 
 of which (upper tuberosities) is placed higher than the corresponding one in 
 the ox, and which has been called a spine." Again, Daubenton speaking of 
 the dromedary, says " The upper part of the haunch bone is very large, and 
 forms an acute angle by its anterior extremity ; the foramina ovalia are nearly 
 round." The pelvis of the goat presents some peculiarities worthy of notice : 
 the symphysis of the pubis, elongated, is somewhat bent in the middle into a 
 distinct angle superiorly, so that the exit of the true pelvis in this animal is 
 directly the opposite to what it is in man, in whom it bends forward, towards 
 the abdomen. The os sacrum of the fallow deer greatly resembles the narrow 
 sacral bone of the hare, in which there also exists a similar though less con- 
 spicuous flexion of the pelvic semi-canal, towards the coccygeal bones. In 
 this flexion may, perhaps^ be found the reason why amongst the glires (ro- 
 dents) animals are generally provided with lengthened tails ; the hare, and 
 amongst cattle, the deer, have the tail short ; both animals are remarkable 
 for their extraordinary leaps, in performing which the middle of the back is 
 bent downwards. The portion of the os ilium, which in the goat overtops 
 the plane of the os sacrum, is bent outwards, or externally is short, somewhat 
 broad, and with a sub-acute apex. 
 
 Section 28. 9. Belluce. The os sacrum of the elephant is composed of three 
 vertebrae, separated by large intermediate cartilages, which late in life evi- 
 dently become ossified. The os sacrum of the pig is composed of four ver- 
 tebras, having very small spinous processes, and separated from each other by 
 large intervals. The os sacrum of the BUS tajarsu has five vertebrae. 
 
 Section 29. The coccyx of the sus tajarsu has seven vertebra? ; that of 
 the common pig, sus scrofu, and of the elephant, thirty-one.* 
 
 Section 30. The ossa ilia of the common pig greatly resemble those of the ox ; 
 the bones of the pubis and of the ischium are broader, hence the foramina 
 ovalia, and indeed the whole pelvis is wider than that of the ox, comparatively, 
 that is, regard being had to the difference in bulk of the animals. The ossa 
 inominata of the elephant greatly resemble the corresponding human bones, 
 especially the ossa ilia, which in the elephant are very broad, and not elonga- 
 ted, as in other mammals ; they reach merely the last lumbar vertebra. Their 
 inner surface is concave, their outer convex, as in man ; but the inferior spine 
 of the crest of the os ilium is terminated by a very large tuberosity ; the 
 diameter from one to the other, according to Perrault,f in an elephant seven- 
 teen years of age, was nearly 2' ; according to Blair,J in an elephant twenty- 
 six years old, 3' 6" English feet; and in the pelvis of an elephant eleven years 
 old, preserved in the Museum of Hesse-Cassel, I found the measurement to be 
 two feet four inches. 
 
 The annexed table of measurements has been compiled from the obser- 
 vations of Daubenton, Pallas, Merrem, Allemand, Blair, and my own : 
 
 * Perrault. Mem. Paris. 1671-1676, fol. T 2. 
 
 t Mem., p. 5. Hist. Nat. : P. Blair on the Anat. of the Elephant. Philos. 
 
 Tr., vol. 5, Lond. 1732, p 82. 
 
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26 FISCHER ON THE PELVIS OF THE MAMMALIA. 
 
 Section 31. 10. Cetacece, The pelvis of the cetacese seems rather a rudi- 
 ment, and the last phalanz in the series of the diverse forms of the pelvis, in 
 like manner as the rudiment of the pelvis, in the anguis fragilis (slow-worm) 
 is said to connect the lizard tribe to serpents. 
 
 Merk,|] at least, does not venture to give a description of the pelvis of the 
 cetacese, without adding delineations to it, on account of the simplicity of the 
 structure. I have myself observed, during the coarse dissection of sailors, 
 that the delphinus phoceena (porpess dolphin) has a pelvis, or at least a 
 bone, which shuts in, as it were, the abdomen, in the situation of the bones 
 of the pubis. A.) 
 
 li Hessische, Beyti. zur Gelchrs. und Kunst. 1. Baud, 6, Stiik.