1. Common anterior ligament; 2. intervertebral substance. The anterior ligament is removed to exhibit (3.) the crucial fibres passing over it.
1. Portion of the occipital bone; 2. common anterior ligament.
92. Corresponding with the ligament on the anterior, is another on the posterior part of the spine (fig. LII. 1), which takes its origin from the foramen magnum (fig. LII. 1); descends from thence, within the vertebral canal, on the posterior surface of the bodies of the vertebra (fig. LII. 1), and extends to the sacrum. This ligament is termed the common posterior vertebral, which, besides adding to the strength of the union of the bodies of the vertebræ, prevents the column itself from being bent too much forward.
1. Posterior vertebral ligament.
93. Moreover, the bony arches of the vertebræ (fig. LIII. 1) are connected by means of a substance partly ligamentous, and partly cartilaginous (fig. LIII. 2), which, while it is extremely elastic, is capable of resisting an extraordinary degree of force.
1. Arches of the vertebræ seen from within;
2. ligaments connecting them.
94. And in the last place, the articular processes form so many distinct joints, each being furnished with all the apparatus of a moveable joint, and thus possessing the ordinary provision for the articulation of bones, in addition to the whole of the foregoing securities.