564 DR. E. CRISP ON THE ANATOMY OF THE GIRAFFE. [Dec. 13, 



the same ridge-like appearance of the rectum ; but I had not pre- 

 viously seen it in any other ruminant excepting the young Giraffes 

 alluded to. 



On this occasion I was fortunate in having the assistance of Dr. 

 Murie in the examination and measurement of the intestinal tube of 

 the Giraffe just spoken of, and we found the length as follows : — 



ft. in. 



(Esophagus 6 2 



Stomach 5 9 



Small intestines 130 6 



Large intestines 83 



225 5 



It will be seen that, taking age into account, this animal had as 

 long an intestinal canal as its mother. 



I have made a large number of measurements* of the alimentary 

 canal in old, adult, young, and foetal animals, the account of which 

 would occupy too long space in the present paper, but the physio- 

 logical deductions from which are of great interest. In the five 

 Giraffes alluded to, when the age and size of the animals are consi- 

 dered, the progressive increase of the alimentary tract is made out 

 with tolerable clearness. 



I will now allude to the appearance of the csecal crypts in the 

 adult animal. In the young Giraffe, seven months old, mentioned 

 in my last paper, these crypts occupied a space of about 2 square 

 inches. In the adult animal they extended over a larger surface ; 

 but their increase was not very considerable. It will be recollected 

 that this question, as to the rate of increase of these structures as 

 the animal advanced in age, was thought to be one of great interest 

 at a former Meeting of the Society. 



On carefully examining the crypts and sacculi near to the pylorus 

 of the young Giraffe described in my last paper I find, on removing 

 the muscular coat from behind, a number of minute oval-shaped 

 glands, the mouths of which terminate in the sacculi. 



The csecal aggregation of sacculi and crypts is called by Dr. Cob- 

 bold (Museum of Natural History, p. 156) a compound gland ; and, 

 as I have before said, he compared seven of the pouches to the water- 

 bags of the Camel ; but they bear little or no resemblance to these, as 

 they are non-elastic and are not extended externally when inflated. 



When I first examined these crypts I failed to detect their glan- 

 dular character ; but after a more minute microscopical examination 

 by daylight I have no doubt^ respecting their glandular nature. 

 They are composed of globular-shaped crypts, joined by their sides 

 to the neighbouring crypts ; the parietes are composed of small 



* In measuring the intestinal canal, as I have stated in former papers, I pull 

 the intestines from the mesentery. If two ruminants, Sheep for example, are 

 examined at the same time, one hy the method just described, and the other 

 by carefully cutting close to evert/ part of the intestines with scissors, the length 

 will be found to be nearly the same ; the latter method is tedious, and unnecessary 

 when the former can be practised. 



