16 



vical vertebree were seven, the dorsal twenty, the lumbar nine, the 

 sacral vertebra (immediately united to the iliac bones) two, and the 

 coccygeal ten, making the total number of vertebree forty-eight. The 

 measurement from the end of the sternum to the ossa pubis, the animal 

 lying stretched in an easy posture, was 7 inches : the length of the 

 portion of the vertebral column occupied by the heads of the true 

 ribs, I4- inch ; and that of the portion of the vertebral column occu- 

 pied by false ribs, 34 inches." 



Preparations were exhibited of the ceecum, of the urinary bladder, 

 and of other viscera, in illustration of the foregoing notes. 



The following Notes by Mr. Martin, of the dissection of a red-backed 

 Pelican, Pelecanus rufescens, Gmel., which recently died at the So- 

 ciety's Gardens, were also read. Tliey refer to the male bird of a 

 pair, the female of which was examined in 1832 by Mr. Owen, whose 

 notes of the dissection were read at the last Meeting. 



" The bird was a male, and had been for many years in the Me- 

 nagerie. 



" On removing the skin, a wide space occupied by cellular tissue 

 distended with air, was found to intervene between it and the mus- 

 cles. This tissue was thin, and subdivided irregularly into numerous 

 cells communicating with each other. Beneath the great pectoral 

 muscle, which was very extensive, there was also a large air-cell, 

 but undivided. 



" The osseous structure was light and thin, and the bones of the 

 extremities were remarkable for the extent of their internal cavities 

 and the thinness of their external walls. The os furcatum was largely 

 spread, and firmly soldered to the keel of the sternum, keeping the 

 shoulders widely apart. The clavicles, or what are regarded as the 

 analogues of the coracoid processes in Mammalia, were large, and 

 broadly expanded at their point of union with the sternum. The 

 sternum was short in proportion to its breadth, measuring 44- inches 

 longitudinally, and the same across, in a straight line, that is, not 

 following the concavity of its inner surface : its keel was compara- 

 tively but little developed ; it is thrown forwards, however, as far as 

 possible, and projects in a point where it is ossified to the os fur- 

 catum. Its greatest depth is 1 inch 2 lines. 



" On exposing the viscera they were found to occupy a truly ab- 

 dominal situation, being placed in a small compass and as far back- 

 wards as possible. The (esophagus passed on for a considerable 

 distance internally, before entering the proventricithis . 



" The inferior larynx was destitute of muscles : the bone of diva- 

 rication was strong and well defined. 



" The liver consisted of two lobes, a large and a small one, united 

 by a broad flat process 4ths of an inch in length. The large lobe 

 measured 24 inches in length and 2 in breadth ; the thickness of its 

 substance being 1 inch. The small lobe was I4 inch long and 4 

 broad. 



