86 
A TREATISE ON ELEPHANTS. 
portions, namely the caecum (is very capacious), the colon (which is 
the largest portion), and the rectum (which terminates at the anus), 
the orifice of which is guarded by a special muscle. 
The intestines are attached to the spine by a strong membrane 
called the mesentery, which also serves to sustain the bowels, and 
affords passage for important vessels. 
The total lengths of the large intestine of four elephants were 
respectively 38, 40, 46 and 43 ft. Steel records the le-ngth of 
bowels in an elephant ft. at the shoulder as follows : small 
intestines 76 ft., caecum 5 ft., colon 20 ft., and rectum 12 ft. Total 
large intestine 37 ft., and of intestinal tract 113 ft. 
"Hunter gives 17 ft. as the length of the small intestine; 
Mayer makes it 37 ft., while he gives the total length as 75 ft.'"" 
— {Miall and Greenwood.) 
Owen's measurements taken from a young Indian elephant, about 
7 ft. at the shoulder, are as follows : — 
Ft. in. 
Length of small intestines ... ... ... 38 o 
Length of caecum ... ... -•• 16 
Total length of colon and rectum together ... 20 o 
Total length of intestinal canal exclusive of csecum 58 6 
The liver. — The liver is the largest gland in the body and one 
of the most important of the digestive organs. Its chief function is 
that of secreting bile. This is collected by small ducts or channels, 
which unite to form larger ones, terminating finally in a main one which 
conveys the bile to the intestine. Bile is a natural laxative, prevents 
putrefaction in the intestines, assists in the digestive process, and is 
the colouring agent of the dung. An oversecretion of bile therefore 
tends to create diarrhoea with deep clay-coloured motions. Insufficient 
secretion on the other hand may produce light-coloured and foul- 
smelling dung with constipation. Characters of the dung therefore 
give much information regarding the state of the liver. The outline 
of the organ is simple, being divided into two lobes, the right being 
the larger. The gall bladder is absent. The duct which carries the 
bile expands and forms a pouch in the wall of the duodenum ; the 
secretion from the pancreas is also received into this pouch. The 
liver may be said to occupy a position roughly between the stomach 
and diaphragm to the right of the middle line of the body. 
The weight of the liver varies between 50 and 58 lbs. 
Hawkes, in the case of a male elephant aged 34 years that died 
from heart disease, found the liver to weigh 65 lbs., and in a very 
sitiall elephant aged 24 years it weighed 58^ lbs. Gilchrist give^ 
the weight of this organ in an animal he examined as ^GJ lbs. 
