114 REPORT—1868. 
On the Relative Weight and Form of the Eye and Colour of the Iris in Vertebrate 
Animals. By Epywarps Crisp, M.D. 
This paper on the relative weight, form, and colour of the eye in the vertebrata 
was illustrated by drawings and casts of the eye of more than 1000 animals. The 
eyes of 600 animals, quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, and fishes, filled with plaster of 
Paris, and coloured by the author after nature, were also exhibited with wax casts of 
the eye and muscles of the Lion, Elephant, Giraffe, Walrus, and Whale. According 
to the author, brown was the prevailing colour of the eye in all mammals, birds, 
and reptiles; whilst in fishes yellow, yellow-brown and whitish-yellow were the 
most frequent hues. Fishes have proportionately the largest eyes among the ver- 
tebrata, and among the land-quadrupeds the Giraffe, Horse, Eland, Elk, and Bison 
have the visual organ of the greatest size. The preparations of the eye were in- 
tended to show the great advantage of the use of plaster of Paris in certain anato- 
mical preparations, a method first made known by the author at the Meeting of the 
Association at Bath in 1864, and at the Zoological Society of London in 1853. 
On some Points relating to the Visceral Anatomy of the Thylacinus. 
By Enwarps Crisp, M.D. 
The author in this paper on the intestinal canal of the Thylacinus (Tasmanian 
wolf), said he was the first to notice it in 1854. A male and female sent over in 
spirits had been recently dissected, and in the stomach of the male a marsupial, 
weighing about two pounds, was found, with the skin nearly entire and many of the 
bones, The animal has the most remarkable alimentary canal, according to the 
author, of any animal in existence. It barely exceeds twice the length of the body, 
and is covered with villi so as to extend the absorbing surface—a beautiful and 
wise provision in an animal that travels long distances for its food. The duodenum 
close to the pylorus is thickly studded with slender villi; these become larger, and 
are more closely packed in the central part of the tube, and extend to about 18 
inches from the anal opening. They resemble somewhat the villi in the small 
intestines of the Rhinoceros and those in the third stomach of the Hippopotamus, 
as was shown in various drawings to the Section. 
On the Intestinal Canal and other Viscera of the Gorilla. 
By Evwaros Crisp, W.D. 
The author in this paper compared the visceral anatomy of the Gorilla, Chim- 
panzee, and Orang with that of Man. The paper was illustrated by numerous 
drawings, and a model of the viscera of the Gorilla. Two of these apes (Gorillas), 
a young one and an adult, the author had examined, the last named by permission 
of the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons. The subjoined were some of his 
conclusions :—That the thoracic and abdominal viscera of the Gorilla generally. 
differ considerably more from those of Man than the same parts in the Chim- 
panzee and Orang} and looking to many other brutal characters in this animal the 
line of demarcation between it and Man is so wide and definite that we may dis- 
claim all relationship with him and his four-handed colleagues. Among the dif- 
ferences pointed out in the visceral anatomy of the Gorilla, were the enormous 
capacity of the ceecum and large intestines, the peculiar glandular structure of the 
former, and especially the tripartite division of the liver. Comparisons were made 
between the length of the intestinal canal of this ape and that of Man, the Orang, 
Chimpanzee, and many of the lower quadrumana. The intestinal tube of the adult 
Gorilla measured 34 feet 7 inches in length, that of the young animals (aged about 
12 months) 13 feet 93 inches. 
On Vitality as a Mode of Motion. By Dr. Tompson Dickson. 
On the Power of Utterance in respect to its Cerebral Bearings and Causes. 
By R. Duyn. 
. Viewing the faculty of speech as an instrument of thought and language, as the 
