140 THE FUR SEALS OP THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



It was early noticed that the conjunctiviB were suffused and injected with blood. This gave tTie 

 eyes a disagreeable appearance [p. 68]. The animal at times chattered or rattled his teeth togethei- iu 

 a very remarkable and noisy manner. This last habit, however, was put down to temper, or as a, 

 sign of hunger; the sanguineous effusion to a cold received during transport. 



After the lapse of a few weeks it would seem that the body and limbs acquired more vigor ; for 

 the gait became altered ; so that in walking on all fours, sea-bear fashion, the abdomen and chest 

 were raised from the ground, whereas at first the animal rather trailed or draggled along than walked. 

 This showed that the animal was growing stronger in body, an equivalent iu some measure to improve- 

 ment in health. It was noticed all the while that it remained emaciated and did not increase iu 

 stoutness or otherwise become fatter, although the quantity of food it consumed was enormous. The 

 ravenousness of its appetite was something extraordinary, and many thought that the animal was 

 underfed. 



The walrus thus was considered by every one who saw it to have had apparently uninterrupted 

 health till Monday the 16th of December. On that day the keeper first began seriously to apprehend 

 that the animal was out of order — as he thought — constipated, but meanwhile it did not refuse food. 



On Mr. Bartlett being consulted, he proposed to give it some oily substance which might act as a 

 purgative. One pound and a half of horse fat, cut in strips, was therefore given the afternoon follow- 

 ing. The next morning there were copious alvine evacuations. What passed at first was haTd, black, 

 and fetid, but the excretions became moister, though still very dark colored. 



When this occurred it was thought relief was obtained and that the animal would go on well. It 

 did not seem, however, to rally, but died rather suddenly on Thursday the 19th. 



The body was examined by me a day afterwards and disclosed unusual conditions. 



Not a particle of subcutaneous fat was present, and the mesentery and other abdominal parts 

 usually containing fatty substances were equally destitute of such. 



The viscera of the thorax and abdomen, with the exception of the interior of the stomach, 

 appeared quite sound. The brain was also normal in structure. ' 



[69.] On opening the stomach, which was of moderate size, I was much surprised to find that it 

 contained small, round worms, a species of Asearis, in such quantities that, when these were turned 

 out, there was altogether about half a pailful. They occupied the entire interior of the viscus, but 

 were in greatest abundance at the bend of the peculiar siphon-like stomach. 



The entozoa swarmed between the rugae, and in many cases were firmly attached to the mem- 

 Tirane. The mucous membrane lining the interior was of an intense red hue ; but here and there were 

 somewhat paler patches. More rigid examination showed that these last were extensive ulcerations, 

 the mucous membrane being entirely eroded, and only the muscular and a very thin lining of submu- 

 cous tissue remained, preventing perforation of the walls of the stomach. The chief ulcerations were 

 some four in number, and varied in size and situation. 



One, nearly circular, three-fourths of an inch in diameter, occupied the anterior wall at a dis- 

 tance of between 5 and 6 inches from the cardiac end. Another, somewhat diamond-shaped, 2^ 

 inches by 1^ at widest, also existed on the anterior wall of the viscus and about its middle. In the 

 ulcerated erosion, the mucous coat was in some parts so excavnted underneath as to leave one-half 

 inch of an overhanging lappet of membrane. On a section being made vertically, the submucous 

 tissue was seen to be absent, the muscular and serous coats alone preventing perforation of the wall. 

 At this part of the wall the stomach had a thickness of only 0.1 of an inch, although it seemed as if 

 the muscular fibers were slightly increased in numbers here, possibly from theeifects of tlie irritation 



I When the brain was taken out, its general appearance and firmness of texture, as implied above, 

 was that of health. As it was desired for anatomical investigation, it was not then cut into or inter- 

 fered with further than cursory examination permitted. At one point it was noticed that unusual 

 vascularity existed; but as the diseased condition of the stomach was thought sufficient of itself to 

 aicount for death, no great attention was then paid to this superficial cerebellar congestion. Subse- 

 quent examinations showed, however, that upon the upper surface of the cerebellum (between the 

 posterior cerebral lobes) and underneath tlio injected pia mater an abscess liad begun to be formed. 

 The brain surface immediately underneath was very slightly softened, bnt around it was quite firm. 

 The morbid deposit and infiltration had chiefly implicated the pia mater over the superior vermiform 

 process. Whether this lesion was the more immediate cause of death, and not the ulcerated condi- 

 tion of the stomach, is an open question. Some of the symptoms .during life might, indeed, be 

 referred to it. 



