CiiAP. IL] 



HABITS WHEN WILD. 



313 



liiiini:,' membrane, to serve as a receiver for water;" 

 but this is scarcely correct, for although Camper has 

 figured accurately the external form of the stomach, he 

 disposes of the question of the interior functions with 

 the simple remark that its folds " semblent en faire 

 une espece de division particuhere." '^ In hke manner 

 Sir EvERARD Home, in his Lectures on Comparative 

 Anatomy, has not only described carefully the form 

 of the elephant's stomach, and furnished a drawing 

 of it even more accurate than Camper ; but he has 

 equally omitted to assign any pm'pose to so strange a 

 formation, contenting himself wdth observing that the 

 structure is a pecuharity, and that one of the remarkable 

 folds nearest the orifice of the diaphragm appears to act 

 as a valve, so that the portion beyond may be considered 

 as an appendage similar to that of the hog and the 

 peccary. ^ 



ELEPHANT'S STOMACH. 



^ " L'extreinit6 voisine dii cardia 

 se termine par line poche tros con- 

 siderable et doublee a rinterieuro dii 

 qiiatorze valvid(!S orbiculaires que 

 semblent en faire line espece de divi- 

 sion particidiere." — Camper, De- 

 scription Annfoniique cTwi Elephant 

 Mule, p. .'57, tabl. ix. 



* " The elephant has another pe- 

 culiarity in the internal structure of 

 the stomach. It is loufi-er and nar- 

 rower than that of most animals. 

 The cuticular membrane of tlie oeso- 



phagus tenninates at the orifice of tlio 

 stomach. At the cardiac end, which 

 is very narrow and pointed at the 

 extremity, the lining is thick and 

 glandular, and is thrown into trans- 

 verse folds, of which five are broad 

 and nine narrow. That nearest the 

 orifice of the ossophagiis is the broadest 

 and appears to act t)ccasionalIy as a 

 valve, so that the part beyond may 

 be considered as an appendage similar 

 to that of the peccary and the hog. 

 The membrane of the cardiac portion 



