RUMINANTIA. 



539 



consequence of a partiality for saline matters, 

 which the animal gratifies by licking portions 

 of rock containing saltpetre ; in this way, 

 silicious and other earthy particles swallowed 

 at the same time, accumulate and adhere 

 together in the form of calculi. 



The intestinal tube is remarkable for its 

 length ; in other respects its characters are 

 for the most part extremely simple. Taking 

 the Sheep as a type, we observe the descend- 

 ing or duodenal portion (a, fig. 361.) to be 

 short and straight, but rather thicker than 

 the remainder of the small intestine, which is 

 twisted into a multitude of gyrations until 

 within a short distance of its termination, 

 where the convolutions cease, and the gut 

 ascends in a direct line to join the colon (/;, 

 fig. 361.). The large intestine is scarcely 

 broader than the small throughout the greater 

 part of its extent ; nevertheless, it is very 

 much expanded at its commencement, and 

 also a little dilated at the rectum (d, fig. 

 361.). The central mass of the colon folds 

 itself into a series of double concentric cir- 

 cumvolutions, which are within one another, 

 but not exactly on the same level, the inner 

 coils being the most prominent ; from this 

 peculiar disposition it follows that the fceces 

 are at first directed concentrically inwards 

 and subsequently reversed excentrically out- 

 wards. The arrangement of the intestines 

 in the Cameline ruminants differs little from 

 the ordinary type : in the Llama the duo- 

 denum is enlarged at its origin, and further 

 characterised by a short oval pouch, placed 

 anterior to the first duplicating of the gut 

 (Cuvier). The elongation of the digestive 

 tube, as compared with the animals' length, 

 from mouth to anus, may be reckoned, ac- 

 cording to Meckel, as 12 to 1 in the Camels, 

 Antelopes, and Deer ; 22 to 1 in Oxen ; and 

 28 to 1 in Sheep. The proportionate length 

 of the large and small intestine also varies 

 considerably ; thus, while of equal length in 

 Camelidae, the smaller doubles that of the 

 larger iti Cervidae, and is fully five times 

 greater in CEgosceridae, Antelopida?, and 

 Eovidae (Meckel). The entire length of the 

 intestinal canal in one of the Giraffes dis- 

 sected by Prof. Owen, exceeded 134 feet. 

 The {ccEcum (e, jig. 361.) is in all species 

 bulky, and, like the colon, smooth and unpro- 

 vided with lateral bulgings ; its blind ex- 

 tremity is more or less obtuse, rounded, or 

 club-shaped. 



The intestinal glands in Ruminantia generally 

 do not offer any deviation worthy of notice ; 

 in the Giraffe, however, we have discovered 

 a curious exception to this rule, arising out 

 of the presence of certain pouch-like folds in 

 connection with the glandulae agminatse, and 

 in particular with a very remarkable exten- 

 sion of the last Peyerian patch beyond the 

 ileo-colic opening.* Probably more 'than one 



half of the entire series of agminated follicles 

 exhibited this peculiarity, but in consequence 

 of our having retained only some six or eight 

 feet of the gut for minute examination, we 

 are not in a position to state with accuracy 

 either the total number or precise localization 

 of all the glands (four of which were found) 

 presenting this anomaly. In the small in- 

 testine the fold consists simply of a semilunar 

 valve-like production of the mucous mem- 

 brane, overlapping the anterior or duodenal 

 end of each patch*, so as to leave a sort of 

 cul-de-sac, the exposed or convex surface 

 partaking of the ordinary villous texture, and 

 the internal wall or concavity becoming folli- 

 cular ; it is conspicuous when distended, and 

 leaves a fossa capable of admitting the tip of 

 the little finger (Jig. 362.). 



Fig. 362. 



Peyerian patch from the Giraffe, showing a valvular 

 fold at one end. Natural size. (Original.) 



Far more striking and complicated is the 

 pouched structure situated within the coecal 

 extremity of the colon (Jig. 363.). Here, we 

 have from fifteen to twenty sacculi combined to 

 form a beautiful network of cells, seven of them 

 resembling in many respects the water reser- 

 voirs of the reticulum, and having a deptli 

 which varies from three to four lines ; the 

 remainder are more or less incomplete, and 

 those farthest from the ileo-colic orifice are 

 mere depressions, the walls of separation 

 being scarcely elevated from the surface. 

 With the exception of two minute fossae to 

 the left of the valve, and three rather larger 

 below, towards the coecal extremity of the 

 gut, the entire mucous membrane, both within 

 and without the pouches, is beset with fol- 

 licles having precisely the same character as 

 those of the last Peyerian patch, of which 

 indeed they are, in reality, a continuation ; 



* On a remarkable pouched condition of the * Possibly the position here given is incorrect, as 



Glandulte Peyeriance in the Giraffe. By T. Spencer the intestine had been divided into sections before 



Cobbold, M.D., Edin. Philosoph. Journal, New the structure was detected, rendering it difficult to 



Series, vol. iii. 1856. decide this point with certainty. 



