52 EINAR LÖNNBERG, STUDIES ON RUMINANTS. 



The jejmium enters into the large intestine 38 cm. from the fundus end of the cEecum. 

 The large intestine does not make many spiral coils. Its general arrangement may be 

 most easily understood from the aceompanying figure (Pl. III fig. 1). If we assume that 

 the first coil beeins at 1 in the fio-ure since it has left the wide csecal träet which is laid 

 in a few undulations, it is complete at 2 where the second coil begins. The latter is 

 then complete at 3. Of the third coil only the first half is present. At the* in the 

 figure the direction is altered and from there two retrograde coils (I and II in the fig.) 

 may be distinguished. At III in the figure the colon turns peripherically. If the spiral 

 coils a,re foUowed from behind and forward the direction of the spiral is altered at 3 in 

 the figure. To judge from the situation of the coils it might be better to count this 

 point as the turning point where the colon bends back upon itself. If this is done, it 

 may be said that the colon forms two centripetal, and two and a half centrifugal coils 

 before it turns pei'ipherically. As is already mentioned this peripherical part of the colon 

 is less closely connected with the jejunum than in other ruminants I have seen (Avith 

 the exception of Bos). For this reason it is also comparatively little undulated. When 

 the peripheric part of the colon has made half a turn and approaches the beginning of 

 the first centripetal coil it forms a rather long doubly bent loop upon itself, as can best 

 be understood from the figure, and then it passes into rectum. 



The dimensions of the different parts of the intestine are as follows. Small in- 

 testine fi'om pylorus to cascum. Not far fi'om 30 m. (more exactly 2982 cm.) Cpecum 

 38 cm. Large intestine 760 cm. All these measurements are made in a fresh state, 

 before preserving, Avith a thread along the intestine Avhile yet adherent to the mesentery. 

 We find from this that the small intestine is not far from 4 (more exactly 3,92) times 

 as long as the large one. This n.s Avell as the few spiral coils of the colon are characte- 

 ristics in which the gnu agrees with the common ox. In Capra and Ovis there are generally 

 three centripetal and three centrifugal colic coils and the length of the small intestine 

 is about three times that of the large one. Murie (1. c. p. 488) gives some information 

 about the comparative length of the intestine in some antelopes. From this may be 



quoted the folloAving: »The small intestine is in excess of the great: 2,3 Antilope 



(Gazella) gutturosa; 2,6 Saiga; 2,7 Antilope cervicapra — — ». According to the same 

 authority the small intestine of Cephalophus dorsalis is about 3 and that of C. maxioellii 

 about 2V2 times longer than the large intestine of the resp. animal (Proc. Zool. Soc. 

 London 1869 p. 596). I also wish to refer to the table communicated by Gareod (Proc. 

 Zool. Soc. London 1877 p. 5) in which the measurements of the intestine of many 

 ruminants are recorded. From this may be seen, among other things, that in Boselaphus 

 tragocamelus the small intestine is not quite twice as long as the large one and in 

 Tragelaphus scriptus is the same relation only 1,6 and in Oreas still less, namely 1,3. In 

 Ovibos the colon is much more developed than in the gnu with four coils in each direction 

 and in consequence hereof the small intestine is not much more than twice as long as the 

 large one (Lönnberg 1. c. p. 154). When compared with that of other Cavicornia the 

 intestine of the gnu might thus be termed taurine, as far as the knowledge goes at present. 



The liver of the gnu (fig. 2) is divided in a right and a left lobe almost equal in 

 size. The diameters of the left lobe in the specimen at hand is resp. I5V2 and IIV2 



