and Muscles of the Giraffe. 183 



equal distribution of striate and non-striate fibrilloe in tlic 

 ligament explain the (supposed rather than real) discrepancy 

 of competent observers ? 



En iKissant I may refer to figs. 6 & 7, PI. VIII. as illustrating 

 transverse sections of the giraffe's ligamentum nuchas, respec- 

 tively from the shoulder and neck. These are of natural 

 dimensions, and from the fresh subject, the peculiarities of 

 the pieces being wide distinction in size and shape. 



3. Observations respecting the Viscera. 



The thoracic organs in the several specimens coming under 

 my scalpel quite agreed with the published descriptions of 

 such — this even to the disposition of the fleshy columns in the 

 ventricles of the heart*. In the juvenile male there was 

 no cardiac ossicle present, as Dr. Crisp f has already stated 

 was the case in the young creature dissected by him. This 

 fact helps to bear out the general rule applicable to rumi- 

 nants ; viz. the bony structure developed at the base of the 

 heart is coincident with the age of the individual ; in other 

 words, its full size is contemporaneous with the fully adult 

 condition. 



The abdominal viscera, examined in each case with some 

 care, corroborated in the main what has been noted by pre- 

 vious observers. I shall mention such variation as seems 

 worthy of record. 



There was no trace of a gall-bladder in any of the animals 

 examined by me. Indeed notification of only two instances 

 of such a viscus in the giraffe, met with by Gordon f and 

 Owen §, is to be found in the anatomical history of this ani- 

 mal — a weighty argument in support of Owen's suggestion 

 that its absence is the rule or normal condition. As to the 

 liver, it weighed 3 lbs. 2^ ozs. in the male calf, and 11 lbs. 



10 ozs. in the mother, in the former the dimensions being 



11 inches by 8^ inches, and in the latter 17 inches by 14 inches 

 in diameter, and 3 inches thick — thus corresponding closer to 

 Crisp's than to Owen's or Cobbold's data. 



With regard to the length of the alimentary canal, which 

 has been made the subject of dissentient remarks by Dr. Crisp || 

 versus Owen, Joly, and Lavocat, it may not be out of place 

 for me to register my observations, and, in comparing notes, 

 see wherein discrepancies lie. 



* Owen, /. c. p. 229. t Proc. Zool. Soc. 1804, p. 209. 



t Euffon, Hist. Nat. Supp. t. vii. p. 348. § Loc. cit. p. 228. 



II Proc. Zool. Soc. 1804, p. 64. 



