56 Proceedings of Royal Society of Edinbiirgli. [sess. 
obtained confirmatory evidence from the examination of a second 
specimen of Sowerby’s whale and a fresh stomach of Hyperoodon.* * * § 
One has now to consider the question if the stomach of B. 
rostrata resembles the type of stomach in the Delphinidse or in 
the Ziphioid whales, or if it is of a different type from either. 
Observations on the structure of the mucous lining of the stomach 
in the Rorquals are as yet few in number. Eschricht states f that 
in B. rostrata and MegaiJtera hoops^ both the oesophagus and 1st 
compartments are lined by a thick epithelium which terminates 
abruptly at the entrance to the 2nd compartment. Professor Max 
Weber I examined the stomach of a foetus oi Balcenoptera sihhaldii^ 
227 cm. long. He recognised three compartments. The mucous 
lining of the 1st was smooth and without glands, but the foetus was 
too young to show a horny epithelium. The mucous lining of the 
2nd compartment was elevated into convoluted, folds, and contained 
branched tubular glands in which distinct pepsin cells were 
recognised. The 3rd compartment had a mucous lining elevated 
into longitudinal folds ; it contained tubular glands in which no 
pepsin cells were seen. From this examination Weber came to the 
conclusion that the Rorquals have the same structural type of 
stomach as is found in the Cetacea generally, to which type, how- 
ever, the Ziphioids, as has already been explained, form a remarkable 
exception. My examination of the stomach of the adult B. rostrata 
corroborates the view that in the type of structure the Rorquals 
resemble the Delphinidse. If I were to employ in the description 
of the Rorqual’s stomach the method which I followed in my account 
of the stomach in the Dolphins, § I should say that the 1st compart- 
ment, as in the Dolphins, is a large oesophageal paunch lined by a 
prolongation of the horny squamous epithelium. The 2nd is the 
cardiac compartment, lined by a succulent reticulated mucous 
membrane, abundantly provided with peptic glands, so that it is a 
true digestive chamber. The last chamber, next the duodenum, is 
the pyloric compartment, whilst between the cardiac and pyloric 
chambers are two intermediate compartments, of which the small 
* Jour, of Anat. and Phys., vol. xxiii. p. 466. 
t Die Nordischen WalUliiere^ p. 98. 
X Morphologisches JahrhucTi, May 1888, p. 646. 
§ Jour, of Anat. and Phys., vol. xxiii. p. 466. 
