8 STUDIES IN COMPAEATIVE ANATOMY. 



Valpian and Pliilippaux give an excellent description of the heart, 

 lungs, and liver. We have not thought it needful to describe these 

 viscera afresh. 



In 1856 the late Professor Goodsir purchased an Indian elephant, and 

 dissected its fore and hind limbs, and the notes of his dissections, un- 

 fortunately very imperfect, are published in the Appendix to his 

 Anatomical Memoirs, vol. i. p. 446. As the head and several of 

 the viscera of this specimen had been preserved in spirit in the stores 

 of the Anatomical Museum of the University of Edinburgh, Dr 

 Morrison Watson was permitted by Professor Turner to examine them, 

 and the results of his dissections were published in this Journal. 



Our dissections, for the most part, agree closely with Dr Watson's, 

 and had he been able to complete his researches in the same manner, 

 our treatise would have proved superfluous. 



A few words may usefully be said upon the mode of dissection. 

 When this particularly awkward subject was offered to us we had 

 no experience or instructions to guide us as to the best way of pro- 

 ceeding. We have, nevertheless, succeeded in preserving all the parts 

 in a nearly unaltered state for three years without immersion in fluid. 

 Any future dissector of a very large animal will do well to inject 

 a preservative solution repeatedly before dismembering the carcase. 

 Afterwards, it is merely necessary to keep the parts in a close-fitting 

 box, lined with lead, and to wrap them in cloths wetted with dilute 

 spirit, or other antiseptic. Occasional change of position is desirable. 



Our example was a young female, about five feet high. . It was 

 purchased in December 1874 by the Council of the Leeds Philoso- 

 phical and Literary Society, to whom our thanks are due, not only 

 for permission to dissect the animal, but also for the readiness with 

 which they have provided the appliances of all kinds necessary for 

 such a piece of work. 



Muscles of the Fore-Limb. 



Pedoralis major consists of two distinct portions. The super- 

 ficial arises from the forepart of the sternum, and passes nearly 

 transversely outwards, to be inserted about the middle of the 

 shaft of the humerus. It is separated at its insertion by a small 

 interval from the other part of the muscle. A few of the lowest 

 fibres are continued into the fascia of the arm. Pectoralis major 

 is overlaid by masto-humeralis and deltoid, with which some of 

 its lower fibres are blended. The remaining portion of pedoralis 

 major arises from the posterior two-thirds of the sternum, and 

 passes forwards and outwards beneath the superficial part of the 

 muscle, to be inserted into the humerus along the outer border 

 of the bicipital groove, reaching upwards nearly to the apex of 

 the greater tuberosity. 



