ERINACEUS EUROP.EUS. 189 



An African Mole \_Chrysochloris capensis, Cuv. 1 ]. 



This is not so strong in the fore legs as the British mole : it is of a 

 fine or beautiful changeable [iridescent] colour 2 . It has no ossa pubis : 

 is this that it may pass through smaller holes than it otherwise could ? 

 The abdominal viscera are much as in the British mole. 



The testicles are very large, lying within the abdomen as high as the 

 lower end of the kidneys. The epididymis begins at the upper and 

 outer side, passes down pretty loose, and terminates in the vas deferens : 

 this proceeds a little convoluted and gets behind the bladder to open 

 into the urethra. There are two bags behind the bladder which may 

 be either called vesiculse seminales or prostate. 



The two vasa deferentia with the testicle appear at first very similar 

 to the two horns of the bifurcated uterus with large ovaria 3 . 



The Hedge-hog [Erinaceus europccus, Linn 4 .]. 



The panniculus carnosus is very strong, especially about the neck, 

 most probably for the erection of the quills. The intervertebral sub- 

 stance is pretty considerable, especially between the vertebrae of the 

 back. The epiglottis is very small, but there is a doubling of the mem- 

 brane of the fauces that is much broader than the epiglottis itself, and 

 is attached laterally to the thyroid (like the broad ligament of the 

 uterus to the side of the pelvis) which covers the aperture. A process 

 of the cricoid cartilage passes between the arytenoids as high as the 

 last mentioned. The thyroid gland is very small. 



The pericardium is very thin and only adheres to the diaphragm by 

 the septum that divides the right from the left side of the chest. 



The other thoracic contents are as in other animals, only the trunk 

 of the left jugular and subclavian veins 5 does not pass over the carotids, 

 but round the left side of the heart, as in many other animals [Marsu- 

 pialia, Rodentia, e.g.] and in fowls ; this venous trunk is joined by the 

 vena azygos of the left side, which is the largest. 



The epiploon is very thin, and there is no little epiploon between the 

 stomach and the liver. The pylorus is pretty thick and yellow. The 

 stomach is as in a dog ; the intestines are as in a bear or racoon, and 

 are between six and seven times the length of the animal 8 . 



1 [The skull of this mole is No. 2401, Osteol. Series.] 



2 [Hunt. Prep. No. 2069.] 3 [lb. No. 2511.] 



4 [The osteology of the hedgehog is shown in the Hunterian specimens, Nos. 

 2390, 2394—2396, Osteol. Series.] 



5 [This trunk is shortly after referred to as one of the two superior venee cava;.] 



6 [Home, Comp. Anat. i. p. 430.] 



