39 



The stomach, ccecum, and portions of the skeleton were laid ort 

 the table. Mr. Brookes remarked that the cartilage which, passing 

 from the carpus, affords support to the volitant membrane in the 

 Flying- Squirrels , is found in all the Pteromyes and Sciuropteri ; but 

 that it does not exist in Galeopithecus. 



One of the specimens of Suricate (Ryzcena tetradactyla, Ulig.), 

 which were exhibited to the Committee on the 25th January, having 

 died, the following notes respecting its anatomy were read by Mr. 

 Owen. 



" The specimen was a female, and measured, from the end of the 

 snout to the vent, 11 inches. On opening the body it was observed 

 that the bile had exuded through the peritoneum, and had stained the 

 ensiform cartilage close to which the fundus of the gall-bladder lay. 

 The viscera of the abdomen presented a beautiful appearance when 

 exposed; the liver occupied the hypochondriac and epigastric re- 

 gions ; below this appeared the stomach with its vessels injected, 

 and along the convexity of this organ the spleen swept across the 

 abdomen from the left to the right lumbar region ; the convoluted 

 intestines occupying the lower part. 



" The oesophagus has a course of about half an inch in the abdo* 

 men, and enters the stomach half an inch from the left extremity 

 of that viscus. The stomach is of a full oval shape, without any 

 contraction in the middle, and retaining the same circumference to 

 very near the pylorus : its longitudinal diameter is 2 inches j its 

 depth 1 inch 10 lines. There is a large omentum, broadly attached 

 to the stomach and spleen, which was hidden among the convolu- 

 tions of the small intestines. The duodenum makes a large curve at 

 the right side of the abdomen, is a loose intestine throughout its 

 whole course, having a mesoduodenum which becomes shorter as it 

 approaches the spine at the lower part of its curve ; it is continued 

 into the jejunum before it crosses the spine. The small intestine 

 then descends into the left iliac region, makes a sudden turn up- 

 wards, and after a few convolutions again at the lower part of the 

 abdomen, terminates in the ccecum which is situated in the left lum- 

 bar region just above the left kidney. The circumference of the 

 small intestines is nearly the same throughout their course, viz. 

 1 inch ; their length 3 feet 2 inches. 



" The ccecum is nearly an inch in length, with a rounded extremity, 

 and rather contracted at its commencement ; but its position and 

 direction are the reverse of the ccecum in the human subject, having 

 the blind end pointing to the diaphragm, and lying, as in birds, by 

 the side of the small intestine, and in the direction of the large intes- 

 tine, which is continued almost straight down to the anus. There 

 is not any natural division into colon or rectum, the large intestine 

 being without longitudinal bands or sacculi, and measuring in length 

 only six inches. The circumference is rather more than that of the 

 small intestines. 



«' The liver is tripartite, with globulus Spigelii ; the right division 

 is bilobed ; the middle division has three lobes, with the gall bladder 



