<J58 



M 



R. W. H. FLOWER ON HYOMOSCHUS AQUATICUS. [DcC. 12, 



except one natural rectangular bend upwards near the pyloric end. 

 The length of this compartment when straightened is 7 inches, its 

 greatest diameter 2| inches. 



Fig. 2. 



Anterior surface of stomach of Hi/omoscfius (iquaficu.i. One-fourth of nat. iue. 



a. CEsophagus. b. Eumen. c. R^ticuhiin. d. Rudiment of psalteriuin. 

 e. Abomasus. /. Biliai-y duct. y. Spleen. 



On opening the cavities the villi on the internal surface of the 

 rumen were seen to be long and narrow, especially towards the base 

 of the compartment ; they measured mostly ^V inch in length. In 

 the reticulum the villi are very sharp-pointed, as usual. The passage 

 along the top of the reticulum from the oesophagus to the orifice 

 leading to the true stomach is smooth, ^ inch long, and bounded by 

 thick but not very prominent folds of membrane. This oritice is 

 \ inch in diameter. The part which immediately follows the ori- 

 fice («/), though it cannot be called a distinct compartment as in 

 ordinary ruminants, is ,% inch in length, slightly dilated and marked 

 off by a faint constriction from the remainder of the abomasus, from 

 which, moreover, it is most distinctly separated by a thick opaque 

 epithelium with short villi, like those covering the laminae of the 

 psalterium in other ruminants ; there are also indications of longi- 

 tudinal plications of the mucous membrane. The remainder of the 

 last cavity has (as usual) a smooth soft lining membrane, free from 

 vilh. 



There is thus a decided indication or rudimentary condition of 

 the psalteriimi or third compartment of the ruminant's stomach ; 

 and contrasting this with the statement by Alph. Milne-Edwards, in 

 his valuable monograph on the Chevrotains, that in the genus Tra- 



