610 DR. E. CRISP ON THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. [MaV 23, 



ovale ; they are about \ inch apart, and are unfurnished with valves. 

 There is only one superior cava ; tliis vessel is short, thin, and very 

 capacious, measuring 1^ inch in diameter. The inferior cava is also 

 very capacious ; I had not read the essay of Gratiolet, before alluded 

 to, and unfortunately did not examine its structure. The careful 

 inspection of the muscular band in the cava described by Gratiolet 

 will be very important in the adult animal. 



The thyroid glands, of an oblong form, are in their usual situation ; 

 they are not connected by an isthm\is. Their weight is 32.5 grains. 



Lungs. — The lungs, which weigh 8 lb. 14 oz., present some fea- 

 tures of great interest ; they are nearly unilobular, each having only 

 a small pointed slip at the upper extremity near to the apex. 



In considering the structure of the lungs it is necessary to take 

 into account the mode of death by burning, for it is possible that the 

 appearances I am about to describe arose from that cause. On in- 

 flating the lungs with air I was surprised to find that towards the 

 apices large air-cells existed that would hold a common-sized horse- 

 bean, as seen in the preparation before the Society. They presented 

 no appearance of recent rupture ; but whether they are natural, or 

 whether it is an emphysematous condition produced by the mode of 

 death, future examinations will determine. 



Another peculiarity in the lungs is their lobular division in many 

 parts, as shown in the preparations. The lung-tissue is subdivided 

 into lobules of a somewhat irregular form, about the size of large 

 Barcelona nuts. I have seen a somewhat similar appearance in the 

 lungs of the Dolphin, Porpoise, and Seal. 



The bronchial tubes are thick and capacious, their parietes con- 

 sisting chiefly of unstriped circular muscular fibres. 



The brain was removed from the skull piecemeal ; it weighed 



The eye, on the side towards the earth, was but little injured ; it 

 weighed about 200 grains. 



In my next paper I will compare the form, size, and structure of 

 the viscera of the Hippopotamus with those of the members of the 

 pachyderm family and of some other animals. 



The drawings which I have made of the viscera of the Hippo- 

 potamus (see fig. ;>, p. 611) will better explain the form and rela- 

 tive size of the various organs. 



P.S. After the above paper was read, my attention was directed to 

 a short communication by Dr. Peters (in his Naturwissenschaftliche 

 Keise nach Mossambique, Berhn, 1852, p. 180) "on the Visceral 

 Anatomy of the Hippopotamus." The animal examined by Dr. Peters 

 was an adult. The four divisions of the stomach are briefly described : 

 the right first stomach was found to be double the length of the left. 

 In a large full-grown animal the estimated length of the intestines is 

 138 feet. A gall-bladder was fuund long and flat placed across the 

 pancreas. I refer the reader to this commimication. The part of 

 greatest interest, I think, in Dr. Peters' s account is the large size of 

 the fir.st stomacU. As is well known, the rumen of the ruminant is 



