124 
MAMMALIA. 
[Chap. III. 
A writer in the Quarterly Review for December 1850, 
says that " Camper and other comparative anatomists 
have shown that the left, or cardiac end of the stomach 
in the elephant is adapted, by several wide folds of lining 
membrane, to serve as a receiver for water ; " but this is 
scarcely correct, for although Camper has accurately 
figured the external form of the stomach, he disposes 
of the question of the interior functions with the simple 
remark that its folds " semblent en faire une espece de 
division particuliere." 1 In like manner Sir Everard 
Home, in his Lectures on Comparative Anatomy, has 
not only carefully described the form of the elephant's 
stomach, and furnished a drawing of it even more 
accurate than Camper ; but he has equally omitted to 
assign any purpose to so strange a formation, contenting 
himself with observing that the structure is a peculiarity, 
and that one of the remarkable folds nearest the orifice 
of the diaphragm appears to act as a valve, so that the 
portion beyond may be considered as an appendage 
similar to that of the hog and the 'peccary? 
par de plus grands qui correspon- 
doient a des grains glanduleux." — 
Buffon, Hist. Nat., vol. xi. p. 109. 
1 "L'extremite voisine du cardia 
se termine par une poche tres-con- 
siderable et doublee a l'interieure 
du quatorze valvules orbiculaires 
que semblent en faire une espece 
de division particuliere." — Camper, 
Description Anatomique dun Ele- 
phant Male, p. 37, tabl. ix. 
2 " The elephant has another 
peculiarity in the internal structure 
of the stomach. It is longer and 
narrower than that of most animals. 
The cuticular membrane of the 
oesophagus terminates at the orifice 
of the stomach. At the cardiac end, 
which is very narrow and pointed 
at the extremity, the lining is thick 
and glandular, and is thrown into 
transverse folds, of which five are 
broad and nine narrow. That 
nearest the orifice of the oesophagus 
is the broadest, and appears to act- 
occasionally as a valve, so that the 
part beyond may be considered as 
an appendage similar to that of 
the peccary and the hog. The 
membrane of the cardiac portion is 
uniformly smooth; that of the 
pyloric is thicker and more vascu- 
lar." — Lectures on Comparative 
Anatomy, by Sir Everard Home, 
Bart. 4to. Lond. vol. i. p. 155. 
Thefi gure of the elephant's stomach 
is given in his Lectures, vol. ii. 
plate xviii. 
