ON THE AJfATOMY OF THE ELK. 



371 



On the Anatomy of the Elk (Alces malchis). By Prof. Moreison 

 Watson, M.D., and A. H. Young, M.B., Owens College, 

 Manchester. Communicated by Dr. Murie, P.L.S. 



[Eead December 20, 1877.] 



(Plates VI. & VII.) 



For the opportunity of examining the anatomy of the Elk we are 

 indebted to the kindness of Messrs. Jennison, of the Zoological 

 G-ardens, Manchester. The structure of this animal, so far as we 

 have been able to ascertain from a reference to such books as are 

 at our disposal, appears to have been very imperfectly worked 

 out. Indeed, with the single exception of a paper by Perrault *, 

 in which only the most obvious points in the anatomy of the 

 organs of digestion and circulation are referred to, we have been 

 unable to discover any anatomical description whatever of this 

 aberrant species. The dissection was commenced with the inten- 

 tion of drawing up a complete account of the anatomy of the 

 animal ; and had the period of the year been favourable, this 

 would certainly have been done. Coming, however, as the sub- 

 ject did, into our hands in the month of August, we soon found 

 that decomposition advanced so rapidly that we were compelled 

 to abandon this intention, and, after placing the viscera in spirit, 

 to confine ourselves to the muscular anatomy of the limbs, trust- 

 ing at some future time to be able to supplement the fragmentary 

 notes which form the subject of the present communication. 

 These notes, however, appear, so far as they go, to contain obser- 

 vations which have not hitherto been published, and we therefore 

 venture to place them on record without further apology. 



Or&ans op Digestion. 



Tongue (PI. YI. fig. 1). — The tongue is broader and more flat- 

 tened toward the tip than is usual among the Cervidae. Its base 

 for a distance of 3 inches in front of the hyoid bone is smooth 

 and devoid of papillae, which begin to make their appearauce 

 on the dorsum radicis {Zaglas). The papillae vallatas are small, 

 and are confined to the borders of the tongue in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the root ; they do not extend further forward than 

 the dorsum radicis. The rest of the upper surface of the tongue, 



* M^moires de I'Academie royale des Sciences, Paris, 1733. 



