1867.] MR. W. H. FLOWKR ON HYOMOSCHUS AaUATICUS. 



9.5!) 



gulue, "Ce dernier estomac [the abomasus] nait directement du 

 bonnet [reticulum] sans qu'il y ait a son origine, dans aucune des 

 quatre especes que j'ai disse'quees, le moiiidre indice de I'existence 

 d'une partie comparable au feuillet [psalterium] des Ruminants or- 

 dinaires"*, it might be inferred that in the structure of the sto- 

 mach Hyomoschus formed a link between Traffulus a.nd the true ru- 

 minants, instead of inclining in the opposite direction as commonly 

 supposed. But the Tragulus javanicus, which I dissected for com- 

 parison with the present animal, showed precisely similar indications 

 of a rudimentary psalterium ; and the same may be observed in a 

 preparation of tbe stomach of a Tragulus kanchil in the College 

 Museum, No. 554, Physiological Series, thus correctly described in 

 the Cataloguef:—" The passage leading from the oesophagus to the 

 third cavity is bounded by two low parallel ridges ; the longitudinal 

 lamella;, which are the characteristics of this cavity in other rumi- 

 nants, are wanting; but as it appears to have had a cuticular lining, 

 we may regard it as a rudimentary form of this cavity, and distinct 

 iiom the fourth cavity, from which it is partially separated by a 

 semilunar fold." 



The stomach of Hyomoschus presents, therefore, no obvious cha- 

 racter by which it can be distinguished from that of a member of 

 the allied genus Tragulus. The same may be said to be the case 

 with all the other portions of the alimentary canal. 



The small intestine is about 1 6 feet in length ; the large intestine 

 6 feet, not sacculated, scarcely wider than the small iutestine, ave- 

 raging rather less than | inch in diameter when fully distended. In 

 the last foot of its length it gradually widens, attaining nearly 1 inch. 

 The caecum is perfectly simple, 3^ inches long. 



The spleen lies on the diaphragmatic surface of the stomach, in 

 the groove which divides the reticulum from the rumen (fig. 2, g). 

 It is flattened and pyriform, the largest end being turned forwards 

 and to the right. Its length is 2 inches, its greatest breadth f inch. 

 On the left margin, rather behind the middle, is a deep notch ; the 

 portion behind this is thinner and flatter than that in front. 



The liver presents a smooth upper surface, irregularly oval in out- 

 line, the broadest end to the right, 4| inches long from side to side 

 and 2| inches in greatest antero-posterior width, undivided, except 

 bv a notch on the anterior border separating a smaller left from a 

 larger right lobe. On the under surface the left lobe has no further 

 subdivisions. The right lobe has two accessory lobes : — the smaller, 

 but most distinct, pointed and tongue-like, close to the longitudinal 

 fissure, near the centre of the organ ; the other, broader and with 

 the free extremity more obtuse, close to the right lateral margin. 

 The transverse fissure lies between these. The gall-bladder is large, 

 and projects freely beyond the anterior margin of the right lobe. 



* ' Reoherches Anatomiqiies, Zoologiques, et Paleontologiques sur la famille 

 des Chevrotains,' Paris, 1864, p. 02. 



t ' Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Physiological Series of Com- 

 parative Anatomy contained in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons,' 

 Lo)idon, vol. i. 2nd edit. 1852, p. 168. 



