The neck is found to exist in no animal but those which
have both these passages. All the others which have the
gullet only, have nothing but a gorge or throat. In those
which have a neck, it is formed of several rounded vertebræ,
and is flexible, and joined together by distinct articulations, to
allow of the animal turning round the head to look. The
lion, the wolf, and the hyæna are the only animals in which
it is formed of a single[1] rigid bone. The neck is annexed to
the spine, and the spine to the loins. The vertebral column
is of a bony substance, but rounded, and pierced within,
to afford a passage for the marrow to descend from the brain.
It is generally concluded that the marrow is of the same nature
as the brain, from the fact that if the membrane of exceeding
thinness which covers it is pierced, death immediately ensues.[2]
Those animals which have long legs have a long throat as well,
1.
2.