ANDREAS VESALIUS, ON THE [FABRIC] OF THE BODY

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...compressed at the sides of the ethmoid bone original: "cri ossis", likely referring to the os cribriforme or ethmoid, the shoulder blades, the sacred bone the sacrum, the bones of the crown of the head the parietal bones, and those of the forehead and the back of the head. Others are narrow, slender, and long, such as the calf-bone the fibula, the spoke-bone the radius, the elbow-bone the ulna, and the ribs. Furthermore, it will be better to reserve for the specific descriptions of the bones all the differences that could be drawn from their shape (since they occur in countless numbers). Indeed, it would be difficult, before the bones have been fully described, to grasp which of them are rough: such as those we will call "stony" the petrous part of the temporal bone at the base of the skull, because they seem like a jagged rock. Likewise, those which are smooth, such as the bones of the crown, the forehead, and the breastbone.

Then there are those that resemble a triangle, like the shoulder blades; and a quadrangle, like the bones of the crown; and those that take the form of a wedge, like the seventh bone to be counted in the head the sphenoid bone; and those like a sieve or sponge, like the eighth bone of the head the ethmoid bone; and those resembling yokes, which are called the "jugal" bones the zygomatic or cheekbones; and those that imitate our letter 's' original: "σ" (sigma). In the 16th century, the lowercase sigma was often written in a way that resembled the curve of the collarbone., like the collarbones claviculae: literally 'little keys'; and those that show the likeness of a sword, like the breastbone; moreover, those that resemble the letter 'u' original: "υ" (upsilon), like the bone placed at the root of the tongue the hyoid bone; and those that express the shape of the weaver’s shuttle original: "radij" with which wide cords are woven, like the bone of the forearm given the name "radius"; and those we compare to a cube, a die, or a hailstone, such as the bone of the foot which takes its name from the shape of a cube the cuboid bone; and those that are hollow in the manner of a boat or skiff, like the foot bone to which the image of a boat gave its name the navicular or scaphoid bone; and those said to be similar to a millstone, a shield, or a small plate, like the bone placed before the knee joint the patella.

To these we add those that in some way present the outline of all Italy, like the thigh bone the femur; Vesalius famously noted its curve matches the Italian peninsula; and those that represent a clasp, like the thinner bone in the leg called the "fibula" fibula: Latin for a brooch or safety pin; and those compared to the beak of the cuckoo bird original: "coccygis, seu cuculi", such as the bone placed beneath the sacred bone which is called the "coccyx"; then those that slightly represent the likeness of an anvil or a molar tooth, like the smaller tiny bone of the organ of hearing the incus; and those like a hammer, like the larger tiny bone of the same organ the malleus. Furthermore, there are those that take their name from the shape of a spindle-whorl original: "uerticuli", like the vertebrae of the back; and those that correspond to a nail or peg, like the teeth; and those that display the shape of a medium-sized pea or chickpea, such as the two tiny bones of the foot placed beneath the first joint of the great toe the sesamoid bones. Very many bones of this kind, which vary from one another in shape, would not be so easily understood in passing by one to whom bones are as yet unknown.

Woodcut anatomical illustration of a human humerus (upper arm bone). It shows three views: the full length of the bone sectioned longitudinally to reveal the internal cancellous (spongy) structure of the head (marked A) and the hollow medullary cavity (marked D); a cross-section of a smaller bone showing a similar spongy interior (marked I, K, L); and a cross-section of a very dense, solid bone (marked N). Letters A through N point to specific anatomical features described in the adjacent text.

Since the variety of bones in terms of their shape is not easily grasped here—even though illustrations are provided in the individual chapters where each bone is described privately and shown unbroken—we have here painted one half of the upper arm bone [humerus] dissected lengthwise. This shows the small caverns at its head, where it joins the shoulder blade, formed in the manner of pumice stone and marked with A*. We also show the thin layer [the cortex] covering those little caverns, marked with* B*.* C marks the portion of the outer surface of this bone visible here and bordering the said layer. Furthermore, D shows the large hollow cavity which, surrounded by the very solid and thick part of the bone indicated by E and F*, extends along the length of the humerus. At the top of the cavity, where* G is placed, and the bottom, where H is seen, bony lines occur, interwoven with the marrow contained in this cavity. Additionally, below the humerus, we have drawn a bone resembling a boat [the navicular], which is to be described in the eleventh figure of Chapter 33, but here dissected through the middle and marked with I and K*, so that the substance of the bone constructed like pumice stone might appear.* L marks the cavernous or spongy substance of this bone. M marks the outer layer that constitutes the surface of the bone and wraps around that spongy substance on all sides. Moreover, to this bone, we have joined one of the tiny bones [sesamoids] which, squeezed at the first joint of the great toe, will be shown in the second figure of Chapter 33 as ω and ψ*. This one, marked* N*, we have divided entirely through the middle so that a bone which is exceedingly solid and almost devoid of small caverns might come into view in some way.*

Distinction by appendages, processes, heads, etc.

By this same reasoning, the images of processes, appendages, heads, rims, cavities, and tubercles that occur in bones should by no means be reviewed at present. Likewise, no distinction of bones can be taken from these things yet, since I have not so far explained what a process, an appendage, and the rest of that order are; these will be treated in the second chapter from this one. And therefore, also the differences from the joining of bones...