1902-3.] Abdominal Viscera of Cercocebus fuliginosus, etc. 505 
On the Abdominal Viscera of Cercocebus fuliginosus and 
Lagothrix humboldti. By O. Charnock Bradley, 
M.B. (With Three Plates.) 
(MS. received July 3, 1903. Read July 20, 1903.) 
The anatomy of the primates is responsible for a very con- 
siderable volume of contributions to morphological literature. 
But, quite naturally, those forms which have the closest affinity 
to man have been more extensively and more carefully observed 
than those occupying a lower position in the zoological scale. And, 
further, the most painstaking and accurate work has been done in 
connection with organs which are very specially modified in man, 
such, for example, as those of the nervous system. This is 
perfectly consistent with the desire to obtain any light, and from 
any source, which will facilitate the unravelling of the many 
problems of human structure. Moreover, the soft and flaccid 
viscera do not lend themselves to accurate observation so readily 
as do the more solid organs which retain their shape after their 
removal from the body. So it comes to pass that, up to quite 
recent times, the abdominal viscera, and more especially the 
hollow organs of the abdomen, such as the stomach and the 
intestines, have only received scant attention; or, if they have 
been more carefully examined, the descriptions as given prior to 
the introduction of modern methods cannot be held as absolutely 
satisfactory, because of the change of shape and disposition 
resulting from the removal of their natural support, to wit, the 
abdominal walls. 
The method of hardening the whole body by the injection of 
some kind of chemical substance in solution has caused, and is 
still causing, an almost complete revision of those chapters in the 
text-books of human anatomy which deal with the softer viscera. 
That similar methods, when sufficiently commonly employed, will 
produce like revolutions in comparative anatomy, can scarcely be 
doubted. And in no order of mammals are such methods likely to 
PROC. ROY. SOC. EDIN. — VOL. XXIV. 33 
