Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, Part I: Osteology, or the Bones of the Human Body c7.s3.t1.12

c7.s3.t1.12

4. As regards the count of Vāgbhaṭa I, his total of thirteen bones probably represents, as usual, a compromise between the systems of Ātreya-Charaka and Suśruta. He appears to have counted two bones (transverse processes) for each of the cervical vertebrae, except the first, which, being a mere bony ring, without body and spinous process, was reckoned as a single bone. He would thus obtain his total of thirteen bones (i.e. 6 × 2 = 12 + 1 = 13).