178 MR. F. E. BEDDARD ON THE [Apr. 6, 
1. On some Points in the Anatomy of Chauna chavaiia. By 
Frank E. Bepparp, M.A., F.R.S.E., F.Z.S., Prosector 
to the Society. 
[Received March 15, 1886.] 
Prof. Garrod has contributed to the ‘ Proceedings’ of this Society 
some notes upon the anatomy, more particularly of the soft parts, of 
Chauna derbiana'. The recent death of one of the Society’s specimens 
of Chauna chavaria has enabled me to sapplement Prof. Garrod’s 
observations by some notes on the structure of the second species of 
Chauna. As might have been expected, there are no great differences 
between the ia) species; and with the exception of the colic caeca 
and the distribution of the tracheal muscles, all the statements made 
by Garrod apply equally well to the present species ; with regard to 
the visceral anatomy I am not able to institute a detailed compari- 
son between the two species, since certain of the facts which I 
shall describe in the present paper have not been referred to by 
Garrod in his account of Chauna derbiana. To these facts I have 
paid particular attention in order to render more complete our know- 
ledge of this interesting bird. 
dir-sacs, §e—On opening the body-cavity it was seen to be 
completely separated into a right and left half by a vertical septum 
attached above to the sternum and the ventral wall of the abdomen, 
and below to a horizontal fibrous septum which will be presently 
described. ‘This vertical septum anteriorly separates the two lobes 
of the liver and runs as far forward as the pericardium; _ it 
corresponds to the umbilical ligament, a structure which has not 
usually so great an extent in birds; more generally the umbilical 
ligament only extends as far back as the gizzard and terminates in a 
semicircular free posterior margin. In Chauna this vertical ligament 
bears a blood-vessel which joins the portal system anteriorly and 
posteriorly divides into two trunks, one of which passes further 
back than the other; this vessel is situated near the dorsal attach- 
ment of the septum. The horizontal septum is an extremely thick 
brown-coloured membrane which passes across the abdominal cavity 
from side to side, and completely covers the coils of the intestine, 
being attached laterally to the walls of the abdomen. This tough 
brown membrane corresponds to a structure described by Weldon 
(P. Z.S8. 1883, p. 640) in the Storks, and by myself (P. Z.S. 1885, 
p- 841) in the Cranes and other birds. This horizontal membrane 
when it reaches the gizzard splits into two layers which form a 
complete covering to that organ ; between it and the gizzard, on the 
inferior surface of the latter, are numerons air-spaces which were 
easily distended by inflating the air-sacs. 
The relations of the abdominal viscera are therefore, so far as the 
presence of this horizontal septum is concerned, indicative of an 
affinity with the Storks and Cranes, and more particularly with the 
* «Collected Papers,’ p. 318. 
