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Show 1888.] ANATOMY OF BALCENICEPS REX. 285 Balceniceps rex ; the osteology, however, and some of the more important external characters (i. e. the presence of powder-down patches) have been described by Prof. Parker] and by Mr. A. D. Bartlett~ in the publications of this Society. The memoirs of these two naturalists and their views as to the affinities of Balceniceps will be further referred to in the course of the present notes. With regard to the viscera, I a m not able to give anything like a complete account; only the alimentary tract with the kidneys and the trachea and bronchi were preserved in the College of Surgeons ; an attempt had been made to inject the intestinal arterial system, but the injection had not been successful. Alimentary Tract. The tonyue is short and broad, forming an approximately exact equilateral triangle ; the smallness of the tongue has been already noticed by Prof. Parker3. The tongue of Balceniceps, in fact, agrees with that of Scopus umbrella*. In the liver the right lobe is very much larger than the left; and, as in all Herodiones, there is a gall-bladder present. With regard to the proportions of the lobes of the liver there is not much to say concerning the affinities of the bird. On the whole the Storks are characterized by having an equilobed liver; the Herons (including Scopus) are on the whole to be distinguished from the Storks by tbe fact that the right lobe of the liver is larger than the left. There are, however, numerous exceptions which prevent our defining the Ardeidae as Herodione in which the right lobe of the liver is larger than the left lobe. It is to be noted that these exceptions appear to be entirely among the Herons. In the Storks the lobes of the liver are invariably subequal, while among the Herons they are rarely so. There is therefore, in m y opinion, some reason to regard the structure of the liver \n)Balceniceps as indicating its Ardeine affinities, and there is no reason against uniting it particularly with Scopus. In the intestines I could not discover any traces of caeca at all ; I believe that the single caecum which characterizes the Ardeidae (there are two in the Ciconiae) may be extremely minute, and might therefore easily /escape recognition in the spirit-preserved alimentary tract5. Syrinx. The most characteristic organ of Balceniceps from the point of view of the affinities of the bird is unquestionably the syrinx. This 1 See P. Z.S. 1860, p. 243; "On the Osteology of Balceniceps rex," Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. iv. p. 269. 2 " On the Affinities of Balceniceps," P. Z. S. 1861, p. 131 (reprinted in Nitzsch's ' Pterylographie,' Ray Soc. edition, p. 155). 3 Abstract of Notes on the Osteology of Balceniceps rex. P. Z. S. I860, p. 330 (note ii). 4 Beddard, " A Contribution to tbe Anatomy of Scopus umbreita," P. Z. S. 1884, p. 543. 5 Mr. W . A. Forbes (Collected Papers, p. 333 note) has noted a single caecum in a specimen mounted in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. |
