THE CAROTID ARTERIES OF BIRDS. 161 
The mesenteric border of the cecum was nearly as black as the stran- Page 203. 
' gulated part; but it was more normal in colour elsewhere. The ali- 
mentary canal was not at all over-distended with food; and the colon 
was nearly empty. 
Till the attack came on which caused its death, the animal was 
in excellent health. It was ill only forty hours. At first it lay out 
straight on its back for some hours; but during the last day of its life 
it was much doubled up, with its head between its legs. 
30. ON THE CAROTID ARTERIES OF BIRDS.* Page 457. 
Between the years 1825 and 1830 three anatomists published the 
results of their independent observations respecting the number of 
and the variations in the carotid arteries of the different members of 
the class Aves. The first of these was Bauer,t who, in 1825, pointed 
out some of the most noteworthy peculiarities, which have been sub- 
sequently verified. Meckel,f in 1826, was enabled to demonstrate the 
existence of other marked variations; and his observations, extending 
over a considerable period, are incorporated in his “ Comparative 
Anatomy.” In 1829, C. L. Nitzsch selected the same subject for a 
disquisition before the University of Halle.§ Since that time scarcely 
any further additions have been made, and the subject has been almost 
entirely neglected. It is not easy to understand the reason of this; 
for it is generally acknowledged that what has been already done by 
the above-named authors is extremely valuable as an assistance to- 
wards a knowledge of the correct classification of birds, and yet they 
have left much for other workers in the same field. The opportunities 
afforded me by this Society, as their Prosector, and by many kind 
friends, who have supplied me with specimens, in spirit, of genera and 
species otherwise unobtainable, have enabled me'to collect together a 
sufficient number of facts, previously unrecorded, to make me feel justi- 
fied in presenting to this Society a fresh list, in which is recorded the 
arrangement of the carotids of the various birds examined by myself, 
at the same time that the previously known results of Bauer, Meckel, 
* “Proceedings of the Zoological Society,” 1873, pp. 457-72. Read, May 6, 
1873. 
f Disquis. cirea nonnullarum Avium systema arteriosum (Berol. 1825). 
} “ Beitrag zur Geschichte des Gefiiss-Syst. der Vigel,” Meckel’s Archiy, 1826. 
§ Observationes de Avium arteria carotide communi (Hale, 1829). 
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