Agesilas, Genserie, Robert II, Duke of Normandy, Henry II,
Emperor of the West, Otto II, Duke of Brunswick, Charles II, King
of Naples, and Tamerlane were victims of deformed feet. Mlle.
Valliere, the mistress of Louis XIV, was supposed to have both
club-foot and hip-disease. Genu valgum and genu varum are
ordinary deformities and quite common in all classes.
Transpositions of the character of the vertebrae are sometimes
seen. In man the lumbar vertebrae have sometimes assumed the
character of the sacral vertebrae, the sacral vertebrae
presenting the aspect of lumbar vertebrae, etc. It is quite
common to see the first lumbar vertebra presenting certain
characteristics of the dorsal.
Numerical anomalies of the vertebrae are quite common, generally
in the lumbar and dorsal regions, being quite rare in the
cervical, although there have been instances of six or eight
cervical vertebrae. In the lower animals the vertebrae are
prolonged into a tail, which, however, is sometimes absent,
particularly when hereditary influence exists. It has been
noticed in the class of dogs whose tails are habitually amputated
to improve their appearance that the tail gradually decreases in
length. Some breeders deny this fact.
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