536 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII. 



merit, we will find that these cavities are formed by an uprising of the edges 

 of a furrow, which edges growing steadily, ultimately coalesce in the middle 

 line and form a closed tube inside which the various body-organs are pro- 

 duced Now should the edges of this groove be arrested during development, 

 they may not meet in front, and in these circumstances, one or other of the 

 contained org ins may escape. This is what must have happened in the case 

 of this teal, and it w^is for this reason that I was so anxious to secure the 

 breast-bone, for doubtless there would have been found evidence of the 

 existence of a fissure at an early period of life The reason why Mr. Fisher 

 did not notice this is probably because the original to ay cleft was filled in by 

 the subsequent formation of cartilage or fibrous membrane. 



Believing that the specimen showed a r >re condition, I took it home with 

 me last winter and submitted it to Dr. D. J. Cunningham, Professor of Ana- 

 tomy in Edinburgh University. He was much inerested in the condition, and 

 asked his senior demonstrator to describe it, and the following is taken from 

 his account published iu the Journal of Anatomy and Physiology (Vol XL., 

 p. 303,:— 



" The specimen as it came under my observation consisted of a fleshy mass 

 about "2£ inches long, 1 inch wide, and £ inch thick, consisting principally of 

 the great pectoral muscle, and some incisions had been made which subdivided 

 the specimen. In the very centre of the muscular mass was an oval cavity 

 measuring | of an inch in length by | inch wide, and lying in this hollow was 

 a structure which there was no difficulty in recognising as a well-formed avian 

 heart. No fibrous pericardium was present, but the walls enclosing the cavity 

 were smooth and polished in character, and the surface of the heart was appar- 

 ently covered by a smooth epicardium. The heart itself appeared to be per- 

 fectly normal, and from its anterior end gave of* the great vessels, which, 

 however, had been cut short and could not be traced. As the sternum was not 

 present, I had no opportunity of examining its condition." 



The specimen, which is hardly suitable for the Society's museum, has been 

 presented to the Anatomical Museum of the University of Edinburgh, where 

 any one may examine it for himself. The condition is undoubtedly a rare one, 

 and we must thank Mr. Fisher for having sent it for examination. It is 

 interesting to note that the bird flew just as well as an ordinary normal teal. 



Mr. Fisher says : " The bird with several others flew strongly and for his 

 kind, fast : they circled about some five minutes before coming in my direction 

 when I dropped a couple. " 



This is an example of the wonderful powers of adaptation nature shows, in 

 cases of deformity and arrested development, for, at first sight, one would say 

 it was impossible for a heart to perform its proper functions embedded in the 

 breast muscles, and exposed to injury from external violence. 



W. B. BANNERMAN, Lt.-Col., i.m.s. 

 Pakel Research Laboratory, 

 Bombay, June, 1906. 



