On some points relating to the anatomy and habits of the Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus), and on the presence of intestinal glands not before noticed / by Edwards Crisp.

  • Crisp, Edwards, 1806-1882.
Date:
[1865]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On some points relating to the anatomy and habits of the Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus), and on the presence of intestinal glands not before noticed / by Edwards Crisp. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    OF THE BaCTRIAN CaMEL (CaMELUS BACTRIANUS), AND on the Presence of Intestinal Glands not before noticed. By Edwards Crisp, M.D., F.Z.S., etc. I shall endeavour, in this paper, to notice chiefly certain parts of the anatomy of this animal which, as I believe, have escaped the observation of, or have not been fully investigated by previous in- quirers ; or if investigated, the mode of research has been different to that which I have pursued. This leads me to mention two prac- tices that I have for a long time followed, and which, as far as I know, I was the first to adopt, and the utility of which, I think, is especially apparent in an investigation like the present. These con- sist in the filling of some of the hollow organs—as the various portions of the intestinal tube, for example—with water, to ascertain their capacity, and in the distention of some parts with liquid plaster of Paris to show their form and to exhibit injections of the blood- vessels or absorbents in a better manner. A part of the injected stomach of a Llama (before the Society) treated in this way, to show the form of the water-bags and the course of the vessels supplying them, well exemplifies the advantage of this method. The Camelidae are some of the most interesting animals, not only as regards their structure, but also in reference to their habits and utility, with which the anatomist has to deal. Their history is too well known to need repetition here; but it will not be out of place to notice the Camels (one- and two-humped) now in the Society’s Gardens. These consist of an old male Bactrian Camel with one of the humps down*, of a female of the same species born in the Crimea in 1855, and of a male Camel about forty years of age. I learn that, since the formation of the Society (1826), one Bactrian Camel died of dropsy, and that two Camels have been born in the Society’s collection ; one of these died, and the other was reared and afterwards sent to Edinburgh. A Camel (Bactrian) was born in Edmunds’s travelling menagerie last year. I believe the only place in Europe where Camels are now bred for profit is Pisa. Of all the animals in our menageries, probably the Camel is the most healthy. To return to the Camels in the gardens of the Society, I learn from the keeper that their consumption of food is about equal to that of the Horse, and that they do not drink, even in hot weather, more * It is well known that these humps often diminish in size, and that the fatty matter of which they are composed is again replaced; but Mr. Bartlett informs me, “ from inquiries he has made of many persons connected with travelling menageries, that when the hump falls in this manner it never recovers its erect position.” [1]