194 THE FUR SEALS OP THE PRIBTLOF ISLANDS. 



it constitutes one wall; and so it rests against the pleura at the sides. (4) As to size, 

 when placed in a scale it weighed 34f pounds, and was from base to apices 2 feet 2 

 inches long, and from the extremity of one auricle to the other 2J feet broad; and so 

 it was broader than it was long. (5) As to form, it was broad and thick, rather 

 than long, and what was the greatest peculiarity of all it ended, not like a top in 

 one apex but, in accordance with the number of ventricles, in two apices. Now, this 

 slit in the apex extends to one-third the length of the heart, and from there on the 

 two apices coalesce in one and form the septum of the heart, dividing the ventricles. 

 The left apex is just a little longer than the right and thicker in circumference. The 

 ventricles of the heart are extended farther below the septum, each into its own apex. 

 The chordae tendineae and the columnae carniae {cordis trabes) or sulci (furrows) 

 exceed the equipment of the human heart, not only in size and strength but also in 

 number. The valves are the same in the pulmonaty vein, the vena cava, the aorta, 

 and the pulmonary artery, as in a man. The base of the heart is surrounded 

 with a great quantity of thick fat that is placed around it like packing, distributed 

 everywhere to the thickness of half an inch. Below this the large coronary veins of 

 the heart are seen, covered inside with little valves which I have ne.ver observed any- 

 where else before in any other animal. With great care I searched for the foramen 

 ovale and for the ductus arteriosus Botalli, but in vain. When I cut through the 

 cavity of the pericardium I found it half full of liquid, so that even by this quantity 

 alone I was led to believe that this liquid was unnatural {praeter naturalem), and that 

 at the end it had been collected into this cavity, from whatsoever source it may have 

 been secreted, in consequence of the slow and distressing death of the animal. 



The lungs are- two very long, white lobes that extend to the middle of the 

 abdomen, one on either side along the dorsal spine. They are, however, detached, 

 and not fastened anywhere, in which respect they differ from the lungs of birds, 

 although they agree with them in respect to their position in the back. Either lobe 

 is covered outside with a very strong membrane, and so if. one should think only of 

 the external structure and color of the lungs one would scarcely consider them to be 

 lungs at all. 



The liver consists of two very large lobes and a third of quite peculiar form; the 

 third is almost square and looks like a blacksmith's anvil. It is situated halfway 

 between the two larger lobes, and is raised above them and lies immediately under the 

 sternum. Outside, the liver is covered with a very strong fibrous membrane, so that 

 it suggests anything but a liver. Through this membrane, in the gibbous part, the 

 branches of the coeliac vessels [venae celiacae) excessively tumid, shine through like 

 a tree, blue in color. When this membrane was cut the substance of the liver 

 appeared, in color a tawny yellow, like that of an ox, but externally soft and most 

 delicate in structure, so that at the touch it dissolved as if putrid under my hand. 



The animal has no gall bladder. But the ductus choledochus, like that of a horse, 

 would easily admit five fingers together; and so it was very capacious; it was half a 

 line thick and very strong, whitish outside and yellow inside, and, opening into the 

 duodenum, it coalesces along with the pancreatic duct into one canal. 



The kidneys are hidden away in a cavity of the lumbar region on either side of 

 the dorsal Spine. They are 32 inches long and 18 inches wide; they have the ordinary 

 form of kidneys and are included in a very strong membrane; when this was removed 

 there appeared a great number of renules of the same form, as in the seal and the 



