126 
MAMMALIA. 
[Chap. in. 
Whilst Professor Owen was advancing this conjecture, 
another comparative anatomist, from the examination of 
another portion of the structure of the elephant, was led 
to a somewhat similar conclusion. Dr. Hareison of 
Dublin had, in 1847, an opportunity of dissecting the 
body of an elephant which had suddenly died ; and in 
the course of his examination of the thoracic viscera, he 
observed that an unusually close connection existed 
between the trachea and oesophagus, which he found to 
depend on a muscle unnoticed by any previous anatomist, 
connecting the back of the former with the forepart of 
the latter, along which the fibres descend and can be dis- 
tinctly traced to the cardiac orifice of the stomach. 
Imperfectly acquainted with the habits and functions of 
the elephant in a state of nature, Dr. Haeeison found it 
difficult to pronounce as to the use of this very peculiar 
