OCR Text |
Show 1870.] PROF. W. H. FLOWER ON JELURUS FULGENS. 761 ascending branch of the aorta, reaching as far as the origin of the right subclavian. The pericardium is loaded with fat. The heart is rather a narrow cone in form, with a rounded apex. Its length is 2" ; its greatest thickness from side to side 1*5", from before backwards 1*3". The aorta gives off two main branches. The first, or innominate, ascends for 1*1", when it gives off the right subclavian; after a further course of *3" it bifurcates into the two carotids. The left subclavian is given off from the aorta "1" beyond the innominate. The red blood-corpuscles were measured by Mr. Gulliver, who ascertained that their average diameter was ^yVr °f a n inch, thus nearly corresponding with those oi Procyon, Nasua, and Meles*. ABDOMINAL VISCERA. On opening the abdominal cavity, no portion of the liver was visible below the margins of the ribs. The stomach was highly distended with gas; its lower border was 6 inches below the inferior extemity of the sternum. The omentum extended to halfway between the lower border of the stomach and the pubis, and was loaded with fat, disposed in ribbon-like flakes, filling up the sulci between the intestinal convolutions. The tongue-shaped extremity of the bright-red spleen was seen applied to the lower part of the left side of the stomach. The nearly empty bladder, with the urachus, could be seen at the lower extremity of the abdominal cavity ; the space between this viscus and the lower border of the stomach was occupied by the intestinal convolutions. The subperitoneal fat was very abundant, especially at the posterior portion of the abdominal cavity in the lumbar region below the kidneys. The stomach (fig. 6), when moderately distended was in the form of a short oval, with the greatest diameter about the middle. The fundus was not very large, the oesophagus entering near the cardiac extremity. The pyloric portion was narrow and tubular, marked by a slight constriction from the main part of the viscus, and sharply bent upwards and to the left, being held by a peritoneal fold close to the upper border (or lesser curvature) of the main part of the stomach. The pylorus is thus brought very near to the oesophagus, and turned directly upwards. The walls of the stomach were thin, except at the pyloric end, where the circular muscular fibres were strongly developed. The duodenum, at its commencement, was \ inch in diameter, but rapidly widened to 1 inch. The entire length of the intestinal canal from pylorus to anus was 8 feet 8 inches. There was no caecum or any perceptible distinction externally between ileum and colon, as the calibre of the tube gradually diminished from the end of the duodenum to the commencement of the rectum, where it was again slightly enlarged. The descending colon passed almost straight to the rectum, inclining slightly from the left to the mesial line of * See P. Z.S. 1870 p. 94, |