The anatomist's vade mecum : a system of human anatomy / by Erasmus Wilson.
- William James Erasmus Wilson
- Date:
- [1854]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The anatomist's vade mecum : a system of human anatomy / by Erasmus Wilson. 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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![bone, without body, and composed of arcbes and processes. The anterior arch has a tubercle on its anterior surface, for the attach- ment of the longus colli muscle; and on its posterior aspect is a smooth surface, for articulation with the odontoid process of the axis. The ])osterior arch is longer and more slender than the anterior, and flattened from above downwards; at its mid- dle is a rudimentary spinous process; and upon its upper surface, near the articular pro- cesses,ashallowgroovet at each side, which re- presents a superior in- tervertebral notch, and supports the vertebral artery, (just before its st cervical nerve. The intervertebral notches are peculiar, from being situated behind the articular processes, instead of before them as in the other vertebrse. The transverse processes are remarkably large and long, and pierced by the foramen for the vertebral artery. The articular processes are situated upon the most bulky and strongest part of the atlas. The superior are oval and concave, and look inwards, so as to form a kind of cup for the condyles of the occipital bone, and are adapted to the nodding movements of the head; the inferior are circular, and nearly horizontal, to permit of the rotatory movements. Upon the inner face of the lateral mass which supports the articular processes, is a small tubercle at each side, to which the extremities of the transverse ligament are attached, a ligament which divides the ring of the atlas into two unequal segments; the smaller and anterior, for receiving the odontoid process of the axis; the larger and posterior, to give passage to the spinal cord and its membranes. The Axis (vertebra dentata) is so named from having a process shaped like a tooth upon which the head turns as on a pivot. The hody is of large size, and supports a strong process, the odontoid, which rises perpendicularly from its upper surface. The odon- toid process presents two articulating surfaces; one on its anterior * The upper surface of the atlas. 1. The anterior tubercle projecting from the anterior arch. 2. The articular surface for the odontoid process upon the posterior surface of the anterior arch. 3. The posterior arch, with its rudimentary spinous process. 4. The intervertebral notch. 5. The trans- verse process. 6. The vertebral foramen. 7. Superior articular surface. 8. The tubercle for the attachment of the transverse Ugament. The tubercle referred to is just above the head of the figure j the convexity below it is the margin of the inferior articulating process. t This groove is sometimes converted into a foramen.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2152144x_0036.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
