Radial spine

“ The neural arch is very broad (in an antero-posterior direction) and is extended dorsally as a wide neural spine (1) . The neural spines of the following thoracic and the first two or three lumbar vertebræ are increasingly broad and truncated. The transverse processes are very broad, long and thin, and in the third to eighth vertebræ they have [56] two articular surfaces, an anterior and more medial one for articulation with the head of the rib (3) and a posterior and more distal one for articulation with the tubercle of the rib. ”

“ The habitual rigidity of the spine, as compared with its possible freedom, is more noticeable in training, of course, than is that of any other part of the body. Each vertebra should be so distinctly independent of every other, as to make the spine as smoothly jointed as the toy snakes, which, when we hold the tip of the tail in our fingers, curve in all directions. Most of us have spinal columns that more or less resemble ramrods. It is a surprise and delight to find what can be accomplished, when the muscles of the spine and back are free and under control. ”

“ Lateral or rotatory curvature of the spine is a deformity which comes on during the developing period of life, before the bodies of the vertebrae are solidly formed. In young people who are growing rapidly, and whose muscular system is weak, the bad habit of standing, and throwing the weight of the body constantly on one leg, gives rise to a serious tilting of the trunk; or, if, when writing at a desk, they sit habitually in a twisted position, a lateral curvature of the spine is apt to take place. ”

“ When there is a small sub-luxation of many vertebræ together, the distortion occasions a circular flexure of the spine, and in this case some are apt to be deceived, and take it for a complete dislocation of one spine, whereas a complete dislocation of one spinal vertebra does not produce a circular but an angular flexure of the spine, which is attended with more danger. ”

“ Although the backbone can bend forward or backward, or twist from side to side a little, by the little pieces of bone of which it is built up gliding and turning upon one another, it is really very stiff and rigid, so as to protect the spinal cord and prevent its being stretched or pinched. Most of the movements which we call bending the spine are really movements of other joints which connect the {213}body or head with it. When we bend our necks, for instance, we hardly bend the backbone at all, as most of the movement is made in the joint at the top of it, between it and the skull. ”

“ The spine is a very important structure indeed. It houses the spinal cord, without which one is paralysed, without which one is useless as a human. But the spine is more important than that. Right in the centre of the spinal nerve, the spinal cord is a tube, which extends to another dimension. It is a tube upon which the force known as the Kundalini can travel when awakened. ”

“ This cord connects the brain with the various parts of the body. There is a soft cushion of cartilage between each spine, which adds much to the elasticity of the back-bone, protecting the brain from shocks. This protection is further accomplished by the curvature of the spine. These bones are not placed directly over each other, but are so arranged as to give three curves to the spinal column. Along the column there are openings, at each joint, through which the nerves come to supply fibers to the different organs of the body. ”

“ In Man, in consequence partly of the disposition of the articular surfaces of the vertebrae, and largely of the elastic tension of some of the fibrous bands, or ligaments, which connect these vertebrae together, the spinal column, as a whole, has an elegant S-like curvature, being convex forwards in the neck, concave in the back, convex in the loins, or lumbar region, and concave again in the sacral region; an arrangement which gives much elasticity to the whole backbone, and diminishes the jar communicated to the spine, and through it to the head, by locomotion in the erect position. ”

“ Once formed, a palpation habit, right or wrong, is very hard to break. Many a teacher has expended himself uselessly in the effort to undo some technical fault acquired by the student in a blundering undirected trial.
Facts Concerning the Spine
The spinal column is composed of twenty-six segments called vertebrae, twenty-four movable and two fixed. The movable vertebrae are divided for convenience in study into three sections. There are seven Cervical vertebrae, twelve Dorsal, and five Lumbar in the normal individual. ”

“ A canal is hollowed out of the column for the safe passage of the spinal cord. (See Fig. 50.) Projections (processes) at the back and on either side are abundant for the attachment of the muscles. The packing acts as a cushion to prevent any jar from reaching the brain when we jump or run, while the double curve of the spine also tends to disperse the force of a fall. Thus on every side the utmost caution is taken to guard that precious gem in its casket.
THE PERFECTION OF THE SPINE surpasses all human contrivances. ”

“ At each antero-lateral angle a strong, backward-curving spine (a') complements the great dorsal thoracic spines. A pair of large crescentiform sessile eyes occur on the anterior margin just within the base of the anterior spines (pl. 25, figs. 4 and 5) . The great dorsal spines are beautifully crenulated on the outer margin by short, strong backward-curving spines.
Appendages.—The antennæ (a", fig. 5, pl. 26) are long, slender, and many-jointed; they unite with the head near the posterior end of the labrum ”

“ The spinal column is peculiarly adapted, with its strong ligaments, its cartilage cushions, its perfect flexibility and flexuousness, to withstand jars and shocks. Yet the spine is the door by which disease enters the organism. ”

“ On the two anterior joints these spines are much shorter, appearing only as nodes. The ventral side is without spines, but is furnished with broad articulating faces. These characters indicate a great freedom of motion in the parts of the abdomen and account for the many positions in which this member is found.
Telson short and broad, flat and quadrangular on the ventral side; triangular and carinated on the dorsal side, and produced into a long, slender spine, having a length about equal to twice that of the posterior segment of the abdomen. ”

“ The Lumbars, with patient erect, should curve anteriorly and the first Sacral spinous process should complete the regular curve. This is rarely found, however; the normal is the exception in any part of the spine.
In the Lumbars we usually choose the rotated rather than the posterior vertebra, but solely because rotation here produces the greatest degree of impingement. The laterality of spinous processes, indicating rotation of the whole vertebra around an axis lying in the transverse line between the articular processes, can best be perceived, as a rule, with patient sitting quite erect. ”

“ The dura-matral lining membrane, A A A*, of the cranial chamber is continuous with the lining membrane, C, of the spinal canal. The brain is continuous with the spinal cord. The intervertebral foramina of the cervical spine are manifesting serial order with the cranial foramina. The nerves which pass through the spinal region of this series of foramina above and below C are continuous with the nerves which pass through the cranial region. The anterior boundary, D I, of the cervical spine is continuous with the anterior boundary, Y F, of the cranial cavity. ”

“ The first of the three dorsal spines is very strong, roughened in front like a file, and hollowed out behind to receive the second much smaller spine, which, besides, has a projection in front, at its base, fitting into a notch of the first. Thus these two spines can only be raised or depressed simultaneously, in such a manner that the first cannot be forced down unless the second has been previously depressed. ”

“ Any force applied to the body with sufficient violence will produce subluxation of the vertebra above the spinal nerves supplying the injured area. Thus, the brachial plexus controls the arm and shoulder and connects with the spine by way of the 5, 6, 7, 8, Cervical and 1 Dorsal nerves. Any force striking the arm or shoulder tends to produce subluxation of the sixth or seventh Cervical or first Dorsal vertebra so that all permanent disease conditions resulting will be found in the arm or shoulder or nearby tissues of the neck. ”

“ A. I thank you, Isabel. Now, what is this spine, of which there is so much "complaint" now-a-days?
I. I will answer you from Paley: "The spine, or backbone, is a chain of joints of very wonderful construction. It was to be firm, yet flexible; firm, to support the erect position of the body; flexible, to allow of the bending of the the trunk in all degrees of curvature. It was further, also, to become a pipe or conduit for the safe conveyance from the brain of the most important fluid of the animal frame, that, namely, upon which all voluntary motion depends, the spinal marrow ”

“ Static scoliosis, for example, when one leg is shorter than the other, the pelvis is tilted down on the short side, the thoracico-lumbar spine deviates laterally to the normal side, and to restore the equilibrium of the trunk the cervico-thoracic spine deviates again in the opposite direction. ”

“ Unilateral paralysis of muscles acting on the trunk may also cause a lateral deviation of the spine, as is well seen in paralysis of the trapezius, which results in a cervical scoliosis with the convexity to the non-paralysed side. ”

“ The dorsal margins of four isolated neural spines are preserved with rounded quadrangular dorsal surfaces. The neural spines are relatively stout with broad triangular bases, probably less than 20% of the total vertebral height. Each possesses complex camellate internal pneumatic structure and simplified prespinal and postspinal laminae. A ridge extends from the base of the prespinal lamina across the lateral face of the neural spine toward the expansion for the prezygopophysis. ”

“ Movement of a section of the spine composed of several vertebrae is not, in the true sense, an Adjustment. It is the single vertebra which must be moved.
The movement should be one calculated to bring the vertebra to its normal position in the most direct manner possible. Such a movement should be used as will reverse the direction of the forces which subluxated the vertebra. It should be applied to the transverse or spinous processes, or to the lamina, as is sometimes done in the case of the Atlas, according to the kind of subluxation. ”

“ No deformity of a child's body gives rise to so much alarm to parents, or is the subject of greater diversity of treatment among medical men, as lateral curvature of the spine, and this is due, I believe, to an imperfect acquaintance with its origin. Specialists are accustomed to treat lateral curvature, knock-knee, and flat-foot as distinct deformities, while in truth they are all links in the chain of one deformity. ”

“ When the spines on being gently stimulated bend towards the point of stimulation, this is due to the contraction of the muscles on the side towards the point of stimulus, for if the superficial plexus of nerve-fibres be cut through so that the stimulus has to pursue a round-about course the spine will bend towards the direction from which the stimulus comes. The bending of the spines away from the stronger stimulus is likewise due to the muscles on the side towards the stimulus. ”

“ The use of this chair is more efficacious in straightening the spine, than simply lying down horizontally; as it not only takes off the pressure of the head and shoulders from the spine, but at the same time the inferior parts of the body contribute to draw the spine straight by their weight ”

“ There is an alternative procedure, spinal fusion—essentially welding part of the spine together so the disc can't pop. She will still hurt, and it will limit her mobility somewhat; the only advantage is that she'll be spared the agony of the disc moving out of place. ”

“ In some cases, the curvature of the spine assumes an extreme type, the shoulders are rounded, and the head depressed, the face approximating the sternum, so that to see an object such as a picture on a wall, the patient must turn his back to it. ”