228 MR. R. OWEN ON THE ANATOMY 
horned Ruminants, the investigation of this point in the anatomy of the Giraffe was 
attended with much interest; and the result of an examination of three individuals 
shows how necessary it is not to generalize on such a point from a single dissection. 
In the first Giraffe, the female at the Surrey Gardens, I found a large gall-bladder, 
which presented an unusual structure, being bifid at its fundus. It was attached in 
the usual manner and situation to the under part of the liver, having a covering of 
peritoneum over three-fourths of its surface. It measured three inches in length, and 
two inches in diameter. On making a longitudinal incision down one side of this 
apparently single gall-bladder, it was seen to be divided throughout its length by a 
middle vertical septum. Further dissection of this septum showed that the gall- 
bladder in fact was double, and that the two reservoirs of equal size, were connected 
together, side by side, by means of a common investment of serous membrane. The 
lining membrane of each bladder was smooth ; they communicated separately with the 
commencement of a single cystic duct, the terminal orifices admitting freely the blunt 
end of a common probe, and being protected by a valvular fold. The cystic duct re- 
ceives the hepatic ducts in its course towards the duodenum. (Pl. XLII. fig. 4.) 
In the two males afterwards examined there was not a vestige of a gall-bladder, but the 
bile was conveyed by a rather wide hepatic duct to the duodenum. I conclude, there- 
fore, that the absence of a gall-bladder is the rule, or normal condition ; and that the 
Giraffe in this respect, as in the structure of its horns, has a nearer affinity to the Deer 
than to the Antelopes. 
The pancreas is broader, thinner, and of a more irregular form than in the Calf or 
human subject. It is attached on the left side to the diaphragm and posterior part of 
the stomach, and it extends transversely across the spine to the termination of the 
biliary duct. 
I found in one Giraffe that the spleen was ten inches long and seven inches and a 
half broad; in another of the same stature, nine inches long and five inches broad. 
It is of a pretty regular oval form, but very thin, not exceeding one inch and two-thirds 
at the thickest part. 
The kidneys present the usual disposition, the right being nearest the diaphragm. 
They are of a short or full oval figure, with a simple unbroken exterior, as in the Deer ; 
about four inches and a half in length, four inches in breadth, and two inches and a 
half in thickness. The tubuli uriniferi converge towards a single ridge, which receives 
eight processes like abutments on each side, and occupies a narrow pelvis. 
Organs of Circulation. 
In the chest the viscera presented the usual disposition. The processes of the pleura 
supporting the lungs contain fat disposed between the layers, as in the mesentery. 
The heart measured in the full length of the ventricles eight inches and a half, and 
