54 ON THE ANATOMY OF THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT. 



(probably mucous canals) in the anterior two thirds ; but in the posterior 

 third these disappear or become obsolete. 



About 4 1 inches from the oesophagus, in the middle line of the lesser 

 curvature, is a small, blunt, slightly elevated, circular prominence, pitted 

 in the centre, of ^ inch diameter, which is probably glandular in nature 

 Prof. Garrod, in his MS. notes, records small glands, apparently formed 

 by the aggregation of several of these, as occurring in a similar position 

 in the Indian species. The pylorus has no distinct valve. 



The length of the small intestine was 27 feet 4 inches, of the very 



P. Z. S. 1879, capacious large intestine 16 feet *. The latter was arranged on a meso- 



p. 428. colon, just as in Prof Flower's description t of the Indian species. The 



caecum was large and sacculated, forming a broad and blunt cone 22 inches 



long. It lay on the right side, near the middle line of the belly, pointing 



forwards. Prof. Mower (I. c.) found it in a similar position on the left 



side in a foetal African Elephant. 



The mucous membrane of the duodenum is raised up into irregularly 

 transverse, almost dendritic, closely set, slightly elevated rugae. These 

 continue throughout the whole length of the small intestine, but towards 

 the ileum become arranged more longitudinally. For about 6 inches 

 before its opening into the large intestine the ileum is surrounded inter- 

 nally by large, elevated, pitted glandular patches, caused by a breaking- 

 up and intersection of the rugae, and somewhat resembling an immensely 

 broadened Peyer's patch. For about the last 1| inch of the ileum these 

 patches disappear, leaving the mucous membrane only slightly longitu- 

 dinally wrinkled. The longest of these elevated patches is about 1| inch 

 long. The ileo-caecal valve is only represented by the prominent edges 

 of the ileum, which project into the colon in a ring-like manner. The 

 ileum is here, when cut up and laid flat, 4| inches across. The mucous 

 membrane of both colon and caecum is smooth, with only slight irregular 

 folds. 



Liver. All authors from Perrault onwards have described the Elephant's 

 liver as being composed of two lobes. In his lectures on the organs of 

 digestion of the Mammalia, published some years since in the ' Medical 

 Times and Gazette/ Prof. Flower (I. c. Oct. 5, 1872, p. 372) thus de- 

 scribes this organ (presumably in the Indian form): " The liver is small 

 for the size of the animal and of simple form, being only divided by an 

 umbilical fissure into two lobes, of which the right is the larger." But 

 this statement does not quite accurately describe the facts of the case. 

 As may be seen from the annexed figures (figs. 2 and 4, p. 52) taken 



* Perrault gives 38 feet and 22 feet as the lengths of the small and large intestines 

 respectively in his specimen ; so that the ratios of the two measurements are nearly the 

 same. The caecum measured 1 foot. 



t Med. Times and Gazette, Oct. 5, 1872, p. 372. 



