378 CETACEA. 



" monilif orm tube" in the mesentery of £alcBnopte7'a sibbaldii smd other concur- 

 rent arrangements in the vascular system. Dr. Murie also, in researches on the 

 Organization of the Ca'ing Whale^ {GloUcephalus melas), has directed attention to 

 peculiarities in the vascular and lymphatic system of that genus. The views pro- 

 pounded by these authors do not entirely coincide, though each admits a probable 

 certain connection between the blood and the lymphatic systems. The fact of 

 Orcella^ and the possibility of other Cetaceans besides those mentioned, possessing 

 structures modifying the more direct circulation of the blood among the viscera thus 

 acquires additional importance, which future researches may render more clear and 

 explain the physiological function performed by these modifying structures. 



Owing to the heat of the weather and to other causes incident to the difficulties 

 of dissecting in a tropical climate, I could not follow thoroughly the distribution 

 of the coeliac axis. I was, however, very soon struck by the fact that the arteries 

 supplying the stomach were at intervals dilated into large sacs, from which small 

 branches diverged which communicated with the main channels and their sacs 

 by minute orifices, as is illustrated in fig. 8. 



Large vascular channels penetrated the walls of the stomach between the 

 second and third cavities, and I shall presently more particularly allude to 

 their connection with the glandular structure. The walls of the vessels were, as 

 mentioned by Professor Turner, of great thickness, and this was the case not 

 only in those of great calibre, but equally in the minute arterial twigs, given off not 

 only to the stomach, but to the spleen, the pancreas, and the whole of the lymphatic 

 glands. Indeed, when preserved in alcohol, they appeared as a vast ramification* of 

 hard cords penetrating everywhere gastric and surrounding tissues, and even carried 

 onwards towards the mesentery. In most respects, therefore, they corresponded to 

 Turner's description, and accorded with the character given of the " moniliform 

 tube" {I. c). 



Feculiar gland of stomach in Orcella. — Lying in the angle formed by the 

 oesophagus and the second stomach, and hidden in its lower third by the third stomach, 

 and covered above by the liver, is a large gland, which is closely related to the 

 coronary artery and vein of the stomach. Its position is indicated by g. and pointer , 

 fig. 5, PL XXVII. It is somewhat triangular in form, and measures 3 inches 

 long and broad. Its base or hilus is placed towards the superior branch of the 

 coronary artery, the anterior surface of which it wholly invests. Its lower third 

 is also placed over the inferior branch of the coronary artery and vein. Its lower 

 border is loosely adherent to the pancreas and its posterior surface to the right 

 extremity of the first stomach, whilst its apex, where the vein and artery which 

 traverse it quit the gland, is firmly adherent to the apex of the first stomach at 

 its right side, where the oesophagus ends and the stomach begins. Its base is loosely 

 adherent to the vena cava inferior, and the hepatic artery and portal vein enter 

 the liver to the right of the gland. It is invested by a strong fibrous capsule, 

 through which and between it and the cortical substance numerous blood-vessels 



1 Trans. Zool. Soc. 1873, vol. viii. pp. 270, &c. 



