TAP 



49 



TAP 



The occipital surface of the skull offers a difference cor- 

 responding to that of the profile, inasmuch as it is le.s.s 

 hiirh, but it is also much wider in proportion ; and from 

 tliis width results another difference in the upper surface 

 of the cranium, namely, that the sagittal crest, instead of 

 remaining throughout its length linear and narrow, 

 widens much backwards, and even remains rather wide at 

 the point where it is most narrowed by the approximation 

 of the two temporal fossae. The triangle which these two 

 fossce leave in front upon the frontal bones is also wider 

 and its surface more convex. The triangle formed by the 

 true bones of the nose is wider at its base. For the rest, 

 the composition of the cranium, the connexion of its 

 bones, its sutures, its foramina, entirely resemble, as well 

 as I he teeth, those, of the American species. 



Cuvier then remarks that the rest of the skeleton of the 

 two species does not offer such appreciable differences. 

 The blade-bone of the Indian species is rather the wider ; 

 but the notch towards the lower part is smaller and 

 rounder. The anterior hook of the great tuberosity of the 

 humerus is more projecting ; the unciform bone of the 

 carpus is narrower ; the last phalanges of the middle an- 

 terior toe are wider and more rounded, and the same may 

 be said of the middle toe of the hind feet ; the great tro- 

 chanter of the femur is larger ;>the neck of the astragalus 

 is shorter : but all these differences, Cuvier observes, are 

 of so little importance, that, without those of the crania, 

 they would hardly justify the conclusion of specific dis- 

 tinction. (Osseiiiriis Fotfil 



Mr. Yarrell, in the 4th vol. of the Zoological Jniinml. 

 gives an account of the post-mortem appearances in an 

 American Tapir brought to this country by Lieut. Maw, 

 H.N., which survived its arrival in the gardens of the 

 Zoological Society in the Regent's Park only a f^ 

 hours. 



When dead, the animal, which was said to be about 

 twelve months old, measured from the nose to the root of 

 the tail 48 inches, and its girth was 35 inches. The in- 



C\*M teeth - were very much used ; the edges coming into 



i-ontact when the molars are in action. The canines 



were small in the upper jaw, and removed a short 



distance from the lateral incisor, for the admission of the 



44 

 larger canines of the lower jaw ; the molars were 5 - 



o o 



Of tho.-,e in the lower jaw, the first had three lobes, with 

 ihe points; the second and third two lobes, with four 

 points. Of the four upper molars, the first had two outer 

 ami <me inner point; the other three had each two lobes 

 with four points : all the parallel points or tubercles were 

 connected transversely by a slight, triangular ridge ; and 

 'ai'h uf (hoc triangular ridges, with their connected tu- 

 bercles, shut into similarly shaped ca\ities in the teeth 

 opposed to them, throughout the whole length of their 

 continuous surfaces. The second, third, and fourth upper 

 molars had each a small additional but less elevated 

 point on the external anterior angle, increasing somewhat 

 in size from the second tooth backwards. On cutting 

 through the bones of the palate in order to the complete 

 removal of the brain, Mr. Yarrell found the crown of 

 another molar tooth on each side, posterior to, and some- 

 what within the line of range of, the last exposed molar. 

 This tooth hail a fifth tubercle of increased magnitude. 



The cartilage of the septum narium was thick and strong, 

 and the central ridge of the skull very much cle\iitcd. 

 The ligamentum nuclni- was composed of three strong 

 cord-like portions, two of which, passing in a parallel 

 direction from the elongated spinous process of the ti: ,t 

 vertebra, were inserted together upon the extreme supe- 

 rior posterior angle of the central ridge of the cranium, 

 supporting the whole length of the elevated crest and 

 mane. The third portion of this strong ligament passed 

 between the other two, and was inserted into the more 

 el. >ated portion of the elongated spinous process of the 

 dcntata. 



The anterior portion of the sternum was keel-like and 

 rounded in shape, and projected forwards. There were 

 twenty ribs on each side and four lumbar vertebrae. The 

 trachea] cartilages were firm : the rings however were in- 

 complete throughout. One large and one small lobe 

 formed the right lung ; one large and two small ones the 

 P. t 1 ., X,.. 



eft: they were inflamed. The pericardium, which was 

 loaded with fat, was of unusual thickness ; but the heart 

 presented nothing remarkable : the coats of the arteries 

 were particularly thick and firm. 



The oesophagus was narrow : the stomach presented a 

 single cavity, rather small, measuring, when moderately 

 distended with air, 8 inches only from right to left, and 

 1.">J inches in circumference : the parietes were thickened 

 about the pylorus, but the internal surface was not ex- 

 amined, the organ having been preserved entire : it con- 

 tained a loose mass of tow, hair, string, and shreds of 

 cloth. 



The spleen was narrow, thin, and 12 inches long. 



The liver was divided into four lobes : two, one large 

 and one small, on the right side ; and two, large and equal, 

 on the left ; the lower of these last was divided and 

 notched on the edge. There was no gall-bladder. 



The small intestines, uniform in size throughout their 

 length, measured 21 feet, and were inflamed. 



The ciecum was capacious compared with the stomach, 

 measuring 14 inches in the line of its long axis, and 24 

 inches in girth at the largest part, and had two deep and 

 several smaller circular indentations externally, and 

 marked with one strong longitudinal band on each sur- 

 face ; tapering somewhat to a point at its closed extremity, 

 but without any appendix vermiformis. The colon, at two 

 feet from its commencement, doubled suddenly upon itself, 

 and formed a fold 16 inches long, the inner surfaces of 

 which were closely connected. The large intestines mea- 

 sured seven feet in length. 



The sexual organs (the animal was a female) presented 

 about the uterus, its eornua, and the ovaria, a degree of 

 vascularity which rendered it probable that the period of 

 life was approaching when breeding would have com- 

 menced. 



Mr. Yarrell refers to Sir Everard Home's paper in Phil. 



-ii/i*. (1821), in which Sir Everard points out the dif- 

 ferences existing in the skulls of the Sumatra,]! and Ame- 

 rican Tapirs, and has described a part of the viscera of the 

 former. In the Sumatran Tapir the stomach is large, the 

 intestinal canal very long, and the caecum small ; in the 

 American Tapir the stomach is small, the intestines of 

 moderate length, and the caecum large. 



Mr. Yarrell adds, that, of the species described, 



The length of the Sumatran Tapir is eight feet ; and the 

 whole length of its intestinal canal is 89 feet 6 inches. 

 Proportion as 11 to 1. 



The length of the American Tapir is four feet ; and the 

 whole length of its intestinal canal 28 feet. Proportion, 

 as 7 to 1. 



In the Physiological Series, preserved in the Museum of 

 the Royal College of Surgeons in London, No. 754, is the 

 anus of an American Tapir, in which, as in the ordinary 

 mammalia, the intestinal canal has a distinct external 

 orifice, situated behind, and not, as in the osseous fishes, in 

 front of the genito-urinary outlet. Professor Owen, the 

 author of the Catalogue, remarks that this example of the 

 mammiferous type of anus is preserved on account of the 

 peculiar jagged appearance and abrupt termination of the 

 common integument at the verge of the anus. 



No. 1217 of the same series is a section of the kidney of 

 a Tapir (Tapir Aim //;//*), with the arteries injected, and 

 the pelvis laid open to show the terminations of the tubuli 

 uriniferi, as in the horse. No. 1286 is the suprarenal gland 

 of an American Tapir laid open, showing the central dark- 

 coloured substance very distinctly. No. 2778 exhibits part 

 of the vagina, with the urethro-sexual canal, vulva, and 

 clitoris of the American Tapir, in which the clitoris pro- 

 jects within the anterior margin of the vulva: it is a short 

 pyramidal body with two small lateral lobes. The urethro- 

 sexual canal is separated from the vagina by a broad 

 transverse semilunar fold, beneath which is the wide aper- 

 ture of the urethra. No. 2527 B, is the distal extremity of 

 the penis of the Sumatran Tapir. The upper and lateral 

 parts of the base of the glans present three rounded pro- 

 cesses, beyond which the extremity of the glans is con- 

 tinued forwards, and terminates in a large truncate slightly 

 convex surface, in the middle of which is situated the 

 orifice of the urethra. 



(li-neric Character. Molars presenting on their crown, 

 before they are worn, two transverse and rectilineal tuber- 

 cles (collines). Nose terminated in a small moveable pro- 

 boscis, but not terminated with an organ of touch like that 



VOL. XXIV. H 



