132 
MR.  R.  OWEN  ON  THE  ANATOMY  OF  THE  CHEETAH. 
before  joining  the  hepatic.  The  common  duct  enters  the  duodenum  1  inch  from  the 
pylorus,  joining  the  pancreatic  between  the  coats  of  the  intestine.  The  form  and 
divisions  of  the  hver  are  as  above  described. 
The  pancreas  in  the  fehne  tribe  is  composed  of  two  parts,  both  having  an  entire  in- 
vestment of  peritoneum.  One  passes  from  the  spleen  to  the  duodenum  behind  the  sto- 
mach, lodged  between  the  layers  of  the  posterior  part  of  the  great  omentum  ;  the  other 
follows  the  curve  of  the  duodenum,  describing  a  circle,  and  inclosed  between  the  layers 
of  the  duodenal  mesentery.    The  gland  is  conformable  to  this  type  in  the  Cheetah. 
The  spleen  in  the  Cats  is  invariably  of  a  compressed  elongated  form,  of  nearly  uni- 
form breadth,  and  its  cells  are  much  smaller  than  in  herbivorous  Mammalia.  In  the 
Cheetah  this  part  is  7  inches  in  length,  and  1-J-  inch  in  breadth,  with  the  lower  end  bent 
out  of  the  long  axis. 
The  kidneys  in  the  Cheetah  are  prominent,  with  the  same  proportion  of  the  venous 
blood  returned  by  arborescent  superficial  veins  as  in  the  rest  of  the  feUne  tribe :  a 
structure  which  is  also  found  in  the  Suricate,  Genets,  Civets,  and  Hyanas,  (and  in 
connexion  with  the  feline  form  of  cacum) ;  but  which  does  not  exist  in  the  Dog. 
The  chest  in  the  Cheetah  has  not  the  same  proportionate  size  as  in  the  Lion.  The 
lungs  are  on  the  right  side  divided  into  three  lobes  and  the  lobulus  impar  \  on  the  left 
into  three :  the  superior  cleft  on  this  side  varies  in  depth  in  the  different  species. 
The  trachea  is  large,  as  in  all  the  Cat  tribe,  with  the  cartilages  dilated  and  sometimes 
bifid  at  their  posterior  extremities ;  the  muscular  and  membranous  interspace  in  the 
Cheetah  is  an  inch  in  breadth ;  and  the  number  of  cartilages  4 1 .  The  heart  is  3^-  inches 
in  length,  and  2-|-  in  breadth.  The  aorta  gives  off  the  left  carotid  with  the  right  carotid 
and  subclavian  by  a  common  trunk,  the  left  subclavian  coming  off  separately.  This 
disposition  I  have  found  in  all  the  feline  animals  which  I  have  examined  at  the  Society's 
Museum  ;  but  it  is  not  peculiar  to  the  genus  Felis.    There  is  one  superior  vena  cava. 
The  testes  in  the  Cheetah  are  situated  in  a  sessile  scrotum  4  inches  from  the  anus : 
they  are  each  10  lines  long,  and  7  lines  broad :  the  epididymis  is  large  in  proportion  to 
the  gland.  The  penis  in  the  unretracted  state  is  4  inches  in  length,  the  glans  pointed 
and  armed  with  retroverted  paj?iZZ«,  as  in  all  feline  animals,  and  without  any  bone. 
The  tongue  is  beset  with  retroverted  cuticular  papillce,  occupying  its  anterior  third, 
but  not  extending  to  the  margin.  The  lytta,  or  rudiment  of  the  lingual  bone,  so  con- 
spicuous in  Dogs,  is  here  reduced,  as  in  the  other  feline  animals,  to  a  smaU  vestige. 
The  elastic  ligaments  of  the  ungueal  phalanges  exist  in  the  same  number  and  rela- 
tive position  as  in  the  Lion,  but  are  longer  and  more  slender :  if  the  last  joint  is  forcibly 
drawn  out,  they  retract  it  to  a  certain  extent ;  but  this,  as  is  well  known,  is  insufficient 
to  preserve  the  claws  so  sharp  as  in  the  rest  of  the  Feles. 
It  will  thus  be  seen,  that  in  the  circulating,  respiratory,  digestive,  and  generative 
systems,  the  Cheetah  conforms  to  the  typical  structure  of  the  genus  Felis. 
In  the  nervous  system  the  same  correspondence  appears  also  to  exist ;  but  with 
