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Show 1879.] ANATOMY OF HY.fiNA CROCUTA. 81 The animal from which the following observations have been compiled was a well-developed male. It came into our possession shortly after death, in excellent condition for dissecting-purposes. VISCERA. Digestive Organs. Tongue.-The tongue conforms to the Carnivorous type of the organ, being elongated, flattened, and thin. The filiform papillae covering the whole of the dorsal surface and margins are of large size, and present the appearence of small recurved spines. One inch behind the tip these papillae are somewhat modified in form, and are arranged in a clearly defined oval patch. In this region each papilla is situated on a broad conical base, and terminates in a blunt truncated extremity, which contrasts strongly with the sharp recurved appearance of these papillae upon other parts of the organ. This patch is referred to by Owen1, in his description of the tongue in the genus Hycena, but without particularizing the species. Interspersed among the filiform papillae, over the entire surface of the tongue, and almost concealed by them, are numerous minute fungiform papillae of a white colour and devoid of spines. The circumvallate papillae are two in number, of small size. They are situated close to the root of the tongue, one on either side of the middle line. With regard to the number of these structures, our observations agree with those of Meckel2 and Rudolphi3, and differ from those of Daubenton4, according to whom they are four in number. As, however, the specimen examined by the latter author belonged to the species H. striata, this may account for the difference of statement. Meckel does not particularize the species which he examined, though probably it was LI. striata. Behind the circumvallate papillae, those of the filiform variety are of larger size than elsewhere, and differ in being soft and devoid of the spiny character which distinguishes those placed more anteriorly. The tongue of the Spotted Hyaena, both as regards its form and the arrangement of its papillae, agrees closely with that of H. striata and of Proteles5. In all of these we recognize the patch of truncated filiform papillae near the tip ; at the same time it is to be observed that this is not a distinctive feature in the anatomy of these animals, a somewhat similar appearance being recognizable in the tongues of certain of the true Felidae. This patch in Proteles corresponds to the anterior third of the tongue; but in both II. crocuta and H. striata it is confined to the central region of the tip, and does not extend to the margins of the organ. In the Civet, the tongue of which in other respects closely resembles that of Hycena, this patch is absent. The tonsil is of considerable size, oval in form, and consists of a number of obliquely placed glandular ridges. It closely resembles the 1 Anatomy of Vertebrates, vol. iii. p. 198. 2 Anatomie Comparee, vol. viii. p. 685. 3 Eeimann, De Hyaena, Berol. 1811, p. 15. 4 Buffon, Histoire Naturelle, vol. ix. p. 129. 5 Prof. Flower, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1869, p. 474. PROC. ZOOL. S O C - 1879, No. VI. 6 |