664 



behind tlie other, in wiiicli tlie celltype in f;,enenil is larger than it 

 was before. The strongly developed olive clearly- bulges ventrallj. 

 It diminishes first laterally, then ventrally, and extends 3G0 sections 

 frontallv from the calamus, i.e. to just in front of the frontal end 

 of the ambiguus (36 sections). 



The nucleus reticularis inferior makes its appearance 85 sections 

 spinally from the oliva inferior and dorso-laterally from it, with cells 

 which for reticular elements are small. Frequently it breaks up into 

 several cell-groups, locally we find also raphe cells in this spinal 

 portion ; more frontally it extends over the olive in a medial direc- 

 tion, whereby the inclination towards the formation of cellcLusters 

 again shows itself, after which it begins to decrease in size spinally 

 from the calamus ; the cell type becomes larger and the presence 

 of raphe cells more constant. As far as the front poles of the vagus 

 nuclei clusters of large cells next the raphe and of cells lying scat- 

 tered laterally from it can be observed, after which the former groups 

 become fewer and the latter still remain visible. Tn general the 

 nucleus reticularis inferior is poorly developed in the giraffe. 



As regards the occurrence of the commissural motor vagus nucleus 

 in the giraffe, I I'efer lo what I have remarked already in my paper 

 to the Kon. Acad. v. Wetensch. at Amsterdam, on Jan. 18, 1915, 

 The vagus area in Camelidae. 



Although the presence of glands in the oesophagus and proven- 

 triculi of the giraffe has not yet been demonstrated, and this 

 argument cannot as yet be advanced for an extension of the 

 dorsal motor vagus nucleus witli the commissural nucleus, yet the 

 extreme length of the gullet in this animal, even more than in 

 Camelidae, may be i-egarded as an argument in favour of the 

 above opinion. The enormous development of the tongue nucleus 

 and its extension with the commissural tongue nucleus has undoubt- 

 edly something to do with the extremely intensive use that the 

 giraffe makes of its tongue as a prehensile organ ; as a rule this 

 animal feeds on the leaves from the tops of high palm-trees, seizing 

 them with its tongue and pulling them off. Regarding the significance 

 of the presence of a commissural nucleus funiculi teretis and its 

 direct passing into the nucleus intercalatus Staderini, I am not in a 

 position to give fuller details. The strikingly strong development of 

 a great part of the nucleus ambiguus spinally from the calamus 

 furnished a strong contrast with the appearance of the nucleus at 

 this place in Camelidae. I believe that a relation may be assumed 

 between the short recurrent course of the nerxus laryngeus inferior 



