MR. R. OWEN ON THE ANATOMY OF THE CHEETAH. 131 
agrees in all these particulars with the rest of the genus; but as far as I could judge of 
the form of the stomach, which had been laid open, it was narrower, longer, and less 
bent upon itself than in the Lion. The duodenum has an entire investment of peritoneum 
throughout its whole course, and makes a gentle sweep or curve before passing behind 
the root of the mesentery. The cecum and large intestines have also a looser con- 
nexion to the abdominal parietes than in man, so that it is difficult to assign a precise 
situation to the cecum. The whole intestinal canal varies in its proportion to the length 
of the body from twice to four times, being, so far as I know, longest in the Lion, and 
shortest in the Lyna: in the Cheetah it measures 10 feet 3 inches, the length of the 
small intestines being § feet, of the large 2 feet 3 inches, and that of the cecum 1+ inch. 
The large intestines in all the Feles are about two thirds of the length of the body, ex- 
clusive of the tail. In the Genets, the Civets, and the Suricate, they are much shorter. 
In the Dog the cecum is convoluted, and the large intestine equals or exceeds the length 
of the body: but in the Cheetah the cecum is simple and the colon short, as in the rest 
of the genus Felis'!. Two round follicles open within the verge of the anus ; the diameter 
of each is about an inch. The anus is retracted and protruded by two muscles, one 
arising from the middle of the os sacrum, and inserted into the sides of the anus; the 
other coming from the third and fourth caudal vertebre, and passing forwards to ex- 
pand on the posterior surface of the rectum. This structure I believe to be common to 
the Cat tribe, but do not know how far it is peculiar to them. 
The liver in all the Cat tribe is composed of four principal divisions : a left lobe, which 
is entire ; a middle or cystic division, which is deeply cleft in two places, the left fissure 
containing the coronary ligament, the right the gall-bladder ; a third or right division, 
which is also partially cleft ; and in addition to these, a small lobulus Spigeli, fitting 
into the lesser curvature of the stomach, and making in all seven lobes: occasionally, 
however, the middle and right divisions are further subdivided. The gall-bladder is 
elongated, and more or less bent or tortuous, especially at the neck. Occasionally in 
the Cat its fundus is buried in the substance of the cystic lobe, and appears through a 
cleft on the convex surface: Mr. Martin found this structure in the Jaguar also. [ 
am informed by my friend Mr. Kiernan, who has so successfully investigated the inti- 
mate structure of this important gland, that the constituent lobules of the liver are 
more angular and distinct from each other in those of the genus he has examined than 
in the Hare or Rabbit among the Rodentia: they are remarkably distinct in the Cheetah, 
and for the most part six-sided. The gall-bladder in this species has a complete in- 
vestment of peritoneum, is disposed in three flexures, and the cystic duct is tortuous 
‘I may here observe that in the Cheetah which I dissected the small intestines were much contracted, con- 
taining only a grey inodorous mucus, apparently in consequence of an ulcerous opening in the duodenum, which 
prevented the passage of chyme into them. The force of the contraction of the muscular fibres was such, that 
they were drawn into a wavy form, and the longitudinal fibres were observed to form a strong band along the 
attachment of the mesentery. 
VOL. I. T 
