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Show • 1867.] DR. E. CRISP ON THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 693 Judging from the length of the intestinal tube in this young animal, and assuming that the rate of increase would be somewhat similar to that of the Giraffe, the old Hippopotamus would possess an alimentary tube from 180 to 206 feet in length, far longer than that of any other pachyderm. Whilst upon this subject I may mention that the alimentary canal of the male Giraffe that died recently at the Gardens measured 245 feet. The spleen, like that of the Hogs, Tapirs, Elephants, Rhinoceros, and Peccaries, is long and narrow, whilst in the Solidungula it is triangular. In the little Flyrax its shape is nearer to that of the Equidce. In the article " Pachydermata," in 'Todd's Cyclopaedia,' p. 871, it is said " that the spleen in pachydermatous animals differs in no noticeable respect from that of other quadrupeds." But the spleen of the pachyderms is so peculiar as regards its form, in the situation of the vein, and in the arrangement of the venous valves, that it can scarcely be mistaken for that of any animal of a different class. Indeed this organ presents such a uniformity in shape, in the various divisions of the vertebrata, that the family to which the animal belongs may generally be told by it-a remark that will not apply to any other viscus. The pancreas in the Hippopotamus, as might be supposed from the complicated stomach, is more branched than in the other pachyderms, and one portion of it is placed close to the pylorus, where probably a small duct enters; but, as I said in my first paper, I omitted to examine this part. The liver in the pachydermata presents some curious differenoes in the number of its lobes; and in speaking of these I reckon only the main lobes that are seen on its upper surface, the elevations on the under part, as I have said before, not properly coming under the term lobe. In the Hippopotamus, as I have stated, the organ is but slightly divided; in the Elephant it is also bilobular. In the Rhinoceros (Owen) there are three lobes. The Hogs have a liver of four main lobes, and generally a pointed slip that may be called a fifth lobe. The liver of the Peccaries consists of four main lobes and of four smaller lobes; that of the Tapirs of three main divisions and of three supplementary lobes; whilst the liver of the little Hyrax has six main lobes. In the Horses (Equidce) there are four chief lobes. Gall-bladder.-The Hippopotamus*, Rhinoceros, Tapirs, Peccaries, Hyrax, and the Equidce have no gall-bladder; but it is present in all the Pigs. In the Wart-Hog (Phacochcerus) it is very thick, and partly imbedded in the substance of the liver. In the Elephant, as figured in -Todd's Cyclopaedia,' it is seated between the coats of the duodenum, and has four compartments. * Professor O w e n (Trans, vol. iv. p. 44), " O n the Anatomy of the Rhinoceros," attributes the absence of the gall-bladder in this animal to the small size of the stomach; but this explanation will scarcely apply to the Hippopotamus, nor will it, I think, to vertebrates generally-the Deer (Cervidee) for example. |
