75 



it was considered improper to propose regarding it as a distinct 

 species. 



A stuffed specimen and a skeleton of the Acouchy {Dasyprocta 

 Acuschy, Illig.) having been ]aid on the table, the foI]owing notes 

 on the anatomy of that animai were read by Mr. Owen. 



" The subjects examined were the malė and female Acouchiet 

 which were exhibited to the Committee on the 23d of November 

 lašt by Mr. T. Beli, in whose possession they remained alive till 

 May, when they both died in one of the remarkably cold nights of 

 that month. 



" The following circurastances were common to both animale. 



" On laying open the cavity of the abdomen the intestines were 

 found to be generally ądherent to each other and to the parietės of 

 the cavity, arising from recentiy effused lymph : they were also of 

 an unusually dark colour, owing to their contents. 



" The stomach consisted of a simple cavity, of a full ovaI shape, 

 without any contraction between the cardiac and pyloric portions. 

 The cesophagus had a course of nearly an inch within the abdomen 

 before its termination. This is a circurastance vvorthy of notice, and 

 vvhich occurs in a marked degree in most of the Rodentia. The 

 inner cuticular membrane of this part terminated abruptiy at the 

 cardia. The villous coat of the stomach \vas vvithout rugce, and of 

 a gray colour, whilst that of the intestines immediately beyond the 

 pylorus was stained of a very dark colour ; showing that the pyloms 

 bad acted as a very effectual valve. 



" The ccBcum vvas of a capacious size, and had the šame sacculated 

 appearance as in the Guinea-pig ; it occupied the whole of the iliac, 

 lumbar, and part of the hypochondriac regions of the right side, 

 and \vasdisposed in asigmoid form ; the colon atits commencement 

 foIlo\ved the curvatures of the ccecuni, and was attached to it by a 

 continuation of the peritoneal membrane ; about six inches from the 

 ccecuni thejčeces became divided into pellets. The ccecum itself vvas 

 fiiled by a black tough pultaceous mass, of a slightly acid odour ; 

 and the šame coloured matter, but in a more fluid statė, was con- 

 tained in a greater or less ąuantity throughout the smali intestines. 



" The liver consisted of four principai divisions and a lobulus 

 Spigelii ; the gall-bladder vvas imbedded in a cleft in the right di- 

 vision, and contained a small quantity of dark-coloured vvatry fluid. 

 T!he pancreas consisted of two separate lobes. Thespleen vvas of a 

 very dark colour, pointed at the iower extremity, and about one 

 inch and eight lines in iength. 



" The kidneys were prominently situated in the hypochondriac 

 regions, the right being nearer to the diaphragm by one half its 

 Iength than the left. Each was about one inch in Iength and con- 

 globate. The supra-renal glands were of an oval shape, six lines by 

 two in their dimensions, situated anterior to the upper extremitie» 

 of the kidneys, but uuattaehed to them ; the right closely adhering 

 to the vena cava inferior, the left to the vena emttlgens of its own side 



" The viscera of the chest, likę thoje of the abdomen, presented 

 treces of general inflammatory action. 



