Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, Part I: Osteology, or the Bones of the Human Body c7.s2.t3.13

c7.s2.t3.13

2. Suśruta does not explain how this number is arrived at, but Charaka states that there are twenty-four pārśvaka or parśuka, ribs, twenty-four sthālaka, sockets, and twenty-four arbuda, tubercles. And, of course, as indicated by Suśruta's manner of counting, it is to be understood that there are twelve of each kind, that is, altogether thirty-six, on each side. Each rib (Figs. 15, 16, 17) consists¹ of a shaft, and of a head with neck; also at the point of junction of these two parts there is a tubercle which articulates with the transverse process of the corresponding vertebra; and this transverse process has a facet, or very shallow cavity, for the reception of the tubercle. It is from this facet that the transverse process takes its name sthālaka, which word means a shallow socket. The transverse processes, though really a part of the vertebral system, are considered by the ancient Indian anatomists a part of the system of ribs by reason of their containing the sockets, or facets, for holding the ribs. The word sthālaka is a diminutive of the word sthāla, vessel, cup, or pan, and means a small or shallow cup or pan. In anatomical terminology the two words, sthāla and sthālaka, mean, respectively, socket for a tooth (§ 68) and shallow socket (or facet) for a rib. The name of the tubercle is arbuda, and the