CARNIVORA. 



479 



Fig. 200. 



others. The caecum exists, but is very small 

 and short in the cats : (Jig. 200 shews that of 

 the Lion.) In 

 the dogs it is spi- 

 ral. The whole 

 canal is almost 

 destitute of vul- 

 vul< conniventeSj 

 nor is the large 

 intestine tucked 

 up into sacs as 

 in other orders. 

 The mustelidtc 

 generally have no cacum nor valvula coli. 



A short comparative view of the structure 

 thus hastily sketched, with that of the digestive 

 system in the typical herbivora, the ruminant 

 animals, will not be uninteresting. The Car- 

 nivora feeding on aliment which requires but 

 little elaboration to convert it into nourish- 

 ment, the whole process of digestion appears to 

 be as rapid as possible, and we find that every 

 part of the organisation is admirably adapted 

 to this object. The strength of the jaws, the 

 form of the teeth, the structure of the maxillary 

 articulation are all contrived for preparing the 

 food by simple division. The stomach is sim- 

 ple and almost straight, the intestines short, and 

 without any structure to retard the passage of 

 the food. In the ruminantia, on the contrary, 

 the jaws are much elongated, the molar teeth 

 flat and formed for affording the greatest pos- 

 sible extent of triturating surface, the maxillary 

 joint allowing of the most extensive lateral mo- 

 tion, the stomach complicated, and a second 

 and more complete mastication is performed 

 after the food has been long macerated in the 

 paunch. The intestines are exceedingly long, 

 (in the ram twenty-eight times the length of 

 the body,) very large, and tucked up into folds 

 and sacs throughout their whole length. Here 

 every thing is arranged for the thorough com- 

 minution and maceration of the food, and for 

 the greatest possible retardation of its passage 

 through the body, as well as for an immense 

 extent of absorbing surface for the extraction 

 of every particle of nutritious matter. 



The liver in the Carnivora is deeply divided 

 into lobes, which vary in number in different 

 species. Thus in many of the plantigrades 

 there are five, as the brown bear, the coati, 

 and the racoon ; in the otter also, and in the 

 martens and generally in the dogs there are the 

 same number. The Badger has but four. The 

 cats generally have from five to seven, though 

 that of the jaguar has but four, and that of the 

 lynx eight. This numerical variation appears, 

 therefore, to have no reference to any physio- 

 logical law, nor to any peculiarity of habit. 



The hepatic ducts offer some peculiarities 

 worthy of notice. In the cats there are always 

 several, which correspond with the different 

 lobes of the liver. Before the ductus corn- 

 munis opens into the duodenum after passing 

 the muscular coat of the intestine, it forms a 

 considerable enlargement, divided by an in- 

 ternal contraction into two cavities, into the 

 first of which the pancreatic duct opens. In 

 the dog the ductus communis enters the intes- 



tine with one of the pancreatic ducts. In the 

 otter, the common duct forms a second reser- 

 voir near the duodenum. 



The gall-bladder exists in all the Carnivora. 

 It varies in some measure in form, being py- 

 riform in most, elongated and almost cylin- 

 drical in many of the mustelida, and rounded 

 in the bear, the racoon, and some others. It 

 is of great size in several of the plantigrades. 



The pancreas is similar in its general struc- 

 ture to that of the other mammifera. It varies 

 in form, but not in any way that can be sup- 

 posed to give it a peculiarity in function. The 

 pancreatic ducts vary also in number and in 

 the situation at which they open into the liver. 

 In some instances, as in the cats, the pan- 

 creatic and common biliary ducts are united 

 and enter the intestine at one orifice, though 

 this circumstance is not uniform in the genus, 

 nor even in all individuals of the same species. 

 As a general rule in this order the ducts of 

 these two important glands terminate together. 



The spleen requires also to be merely glanced 

 at, as its characters and situation do not ma- 

 terially differ from those in the other orders 

 of the class. It is generally elongated and 

 narrow, and either flattened or somewhat pris- 

 matic. 



The chyliferous system. The chyle in the 

 Carnivora has always been remarked for its 

 whiteness and opacity, a circumstance which 

 greatly facilitates the tracing the course of the 

 lacteals in this order, and which in fact gave 

 rise to their discoveiy in these animals before 

 they were seen in man. The mesenteric glands 

 are united either into one large mass only, 

 as in most examples of the order, into two as 

 in mustela, or the larger substance is associated 

 with several smaller ones, as in the cats, the 

 otter, the seal,: and some others. This glan- 

 dular mass has been termed Pancreas Asellii, 

 from its having been erroneously mistaken for 

 a pancreas by that anatomist. 



The thoracic duct in the dog is double, 

 and in the Sea Otter it has been found by Sir 

 Everard Home that two ducts go from the 

 receptaculum chyli to form this duct, which in 

 its course sometimes divides into two, three, or 

 four, again uniting at intervals. 



Organs of circulation. The heart and blood- 

 vessels offer but few peculiarities in this order 

 worthy of particular notice. The heart varies 

 but little in form ; its parietes are remarkably 

 strong in the larger cats, in the lion particularly. 

 The general structure of this viscus does not 

 differ materially from that of the other mam- 

 mifera. There is, however, a question of some 

 interest which has been often debated ; this is, 

 whether the foramen ovule and the ductus 

 arteriosus remain pervious in the seals and the 

 otter. The testimony of Cuvier and of Blumen- 

 bach goes to prove that, at least in many in- 

 stances, these openings are closed. Cuvier 

 states it to have been so in a seal, and Blumen- 

 bach says that this is its general condition. 

 On the other hand Sir Everard Home has 

 given two examples in which \heforamen ovule 

 remained pervious in the sea otter; Blumen- 

 bach also states that he possesses the heart of 



