90. Another provision for the protection of the brain, which bears convincing proof of the wisdom and beneficence of the Creator, is the antero-posterior, or forward and backward curve of the spinal column. Were it a straight column, standing perpendicularly, the slightest jar, in walking, would cause it to recoil with a sudden jerk; because, the weight bearing equally, the spine would neither yield to the one side nor the other. But, shaped as it is, we find it yielding in the direction of the curves, and thus the force of the shock is diffused.
Fig. 10.
Fig. 10. A vertebra of the neck. 1, The body of the vertebra. 2, The spinal canal. 4, The spinous process, cleft at its extremity. 5, The transverse process. 7, The inferior articulating process. 8, The superior articulating process.
Fig. 11.
Fig. 11. 1, The cartilaginous substance that connects the bodies of the vertebræ. 2, The body of the vertebra. 3, The spinous process. 4, 4, The transverse processes. 5, 5, The articulating processes. 6, 6, A portion of the bony bridge that assists in forming the spinal canal, (7.)