Stomach. 



57 



stomach were observed at an early period by Aristotle 

 and others ; ^ and even their configuration described, the 

 function of the abnormal portion remained undetermined, 

 and has been only recently conjectured. An elephant 

 which belonged to Louis XIV. died at Versailles in 

 1681 at the age of seventeen, and an account of its dis- 

 section was published in the Mhnoires pour servir ci 

 rHisfoirc Naturc/le, under the authority of the Academy 

 of Sciences, in which the unusual appendages of the 

 stomach are pointed out with sufficient particularity, but 

 no suggestion is made as to their probable uses." ^ 



elephant which died at Dundee in 1708. 

 The latter writer observes that, " not- 

 withstanding the vast interest attaching 

 to the elephant in all ages, yet has its 

 body been hitherto very little subjected 

 to anatomical inquiries ; " and he la- 

 ments that the rapid decomposition of 

 the carcase, and other causes, had 

 interposed obstacles to the scrutiny of 

 the subject he was so fortunate as to 

 find access to. 



In 1723 Dr. Wm. Stuckley pub- 

 lished Some Anatomical Observations 

 made ii/>o>i the Dissection of a7i Ele- 

 phant: but each of the above essays is 

 necessarily unsatisfactory, and little has 

 since been done to supply their defects. 

 One of the latest and most valuable 

 contributions to the subject, is a paper 

 read before the Royal Irish Academy, 

 on the 1 8th of Feb. 1847, by Professor 

 Harrison, who had the opporttmity of 

 dissecting an Indian elephant which 

 died of acute fever ; but the examina- 

 tion, so far as he has made it public, 

 e.xtends only to the cranium, the brain, 

 and the proboscis, the larynx, trachea, 

 and oesophagus. An essential service 

 would be rendered to science if some 

 sportsman in Ceylon, or some of the 



officers connected with the elephant 

 establishment there, would take the 

 trouble to forward the carcase of a 

 young one to England in a state fit for 

 dissection. 



Postscriptum. — I am happy to say 

 that a young elephant, carefully pre- 

 served in spirits, has recently been ob- 

 tained in Ceylon, and forwarded to 

 Prof. Owen, of the British Museum, by 

 the joint exertions of M. Diard and 

 Major Skinner. An opportunity has 

 thus been afforded of which science 

 will reap the advantage, of devoting a 

 patient attention to the internal struc- 

 ture of this most interesting animal. 



' Aristotle noticed a peculiarity 

 in the intestinal configuration of the 

 elephant such as gave it the appearance 

 of having four stomachs. De Anini. 

 Hist. \. ii. c. 17. 



^ The passage as quoted by Buffon 

 from the Memoires is as follows : — 

 " L'estomac avoit peu de diametre ; il 

 en avoit moins que le colon, car son 

 diametre n'e'toit que de quatorze pouces 

 dans la partie la plus large ; il avoit 

 trois pieds et demi de longueur : I'orificj 

 superieur etoit a peu pres aussi eloigne 

 du pylore que du fond du grand cul-de- 



