290 Zoological Society. 



mestic Bull of the same age : the scrotum is rugous, sessile, not 

 pendulous with a constricted neck, as in the Bos Taurus. 



As in most Ruminants, the principal viscus which presents itself 

 on opening the abdomen, is the capacious paunch covered by the 

 great omental sac : besides the paunch, some of the small intestines 

 appeared in the right iliac and in the pubic regions. 



The paunch is firmly supported by its attachments on the dorsal 

 aspect to the crura of the diaphragm and part of the expanded con- 

 cavity of that muscle. The part of the serous membrane which 

 answers to the aperture or mouth of the great omental sac in Man is 

 attached to the upper and fore-part of the paunch, not to the lower 

 or greater curvature, so that a free fold of the omentum is spread 

 over the paunch between it and the abdominal muscles : the posterior 

 fold of the omentum is attached to the left side or contour of the 

 paunch, whence it is continued upon the fourth cavity, the duodenum 

 and pancreas, and so on to the right crus of the diaphragm, forming 

 one of the strong suspensory ligaments : the left lumbar attachment 

 is continued more immediately from the long intra-abdominal oeso- 

 phagus and back part of the paunch and reticulum. 



The paunch is sub-bifid, or divided into two principal chambers. 

 The villi of its inner surface are intermediate in character between 

 those of the common Ox and those of the American Bison. The 

 villi of the rumen of the Ox are comparatively large, coarse, flat- 

 tened, but pointed, except near the reticulum, where they assume 

 the form of laminae with irregular jagged margins. In the American 

 Bison they are longer, and for the most part filiform, and conse- 

 quently more numerous. In the Aurochs the villi are shorter than 

 in the Bison, and broader, being compressed and clavate, terminating 

 in an even rounded margin : they are smaller and more numerous 

 than in the common Ox. The relative position, size, and mode of 

 intercommunication of the four divisions of the ruminating stomach 

 offer no noticeable differences from that of the common Ox : but 

 the disposition of the lining membrane of the second cavity (reticu- 

 lum or honeycomb-bag) offers as marked a difference as that noticed 

 on the inner surface of the paunch. In the common Ox the cells of 

 the reticulum are deeper than in any Ruminant excepting the Camel- 

 tribe, and they are of two kinds in respect of their size : the larger 

 cells are disposed between broad parallel septa, and are formed by 

 narrower septa at right angles to these : the smaller cells are sub- 

 divisions of the larger or primary cells. 



In the Bison only one kind of hexagonal cells can properly be re- 

 cognized, and their walls are of equal depth as a general rule : the 

 folds developed from the bottom of these cells are much narrower, 

 shorter, and more irregular than those that mark out the secondary 

 cells in the common Ox. The laminae of the third cavity (psalterium) 

 are of two kinds, large and small ; the larger kind presenting two 

 sizes which alternate with one another ; but between each of the 

 broader or larger kind of laminae one of the smaller kind intervenes : 

 their surfaces are papillose, but the papillae are shorter than in the 

 common Ox, which presents a similar arrangement of the laminae. 



