The lumbar curve in man and the apes : with an account of the topographical anatomy of the chimpanzee, orang-utan, and gibbon / by D.J. Cunningham.

  • Cunningham, D. J. (Daniel John), 1850-1909.
Date:
1886
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The lumbar curve in man and the apes : with an account of the topographical anatomy of the chimpanzee, orang-utan, and gibbon / by D.J. Cunningham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    much greater, and of a different nature from those of the bodies of the vertebrae. Had it been possible to determine with precision the curvature of the spinal column in the living, there cannot be a doubt but that Parow' would have solved the question. His investigation into the physical con- ditions of the upright posture, and the normal curves of the spine, is a model of patient and laborious research; but while he has furnished us with many important and interesting facts, the representations which he gives of the curves of the column of vertebral bodies in the living can only be accepted as approximately correct. The following is the manner in which Parow endeavoured to ascertain the curved outline presented by the anterior face of the vertebral column in the living individual. He tried to obtain the mean distance between the tips of the several spinous processes and the middle points of the front sur- face of the corresponding vertebral bodies by measurements carried out on a number of male and female columns. In certain of the dorsal vertebrae, on account of the strong slope of the spinous process, it was necessary to take three distinct measurements, viz. to the anterior face of the body of the corresponding vertebra; to the front of the vertebral body next in order below; and to the front of the column immediately opposite. In the cervical region such measurements would have been useless, not only on account of the deep position of the spinous processes, but also on account of their very variable degree of development. In the diagrams, therefore, which he gives, the cervical curve must be considered as being more or less fanciful. In the male spines the differences in the distances between the tips of the spinous processes and the front surface of the column were less than would have been expected. The most striking discrepancy, in the case of the movable vertebrae, was that exhibited by the vertebra pro- minens, and it amounted to 12 m.m. In the female spines the discrepancies were much greater, and the want of uniformity in different spines very marked. ' Studien iiber die physikalisclien Bcdingungen der aufrechten Stellung und der normalen Krummungen der Wirbelsaule. Archiv fiir pathologische Anat. und Phys. 1864.