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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    John Hunter, he had some doubt as to the correctness of the sup- posed water-holding function of these cells.” Prof. Owen remarked “ that he had found food in the water-cells of Llamas ; but he thought it probable that this had been forced into them by moving the animals after death.” In the Hunterian Museum (556 to 559) are preparations of the water-cells of the Llama and Camel, with a description by Professor Owen. Cuvier (‘Le^ns d’Anatomie Comparee,’ 1836, tom. iv. p. 72) gives a very short account of the stomach of the Camel, which he describes as having four cavities. The total length of the intestinal tube in the Dromedary (one-humped) is given as 38‘456, the pro- portion to the body being 1 : 15-5. In the Camel, the total length of the intestinal canal is 42'213, the proportion to the length of the body being 1 : 12*3 (Table, p. 193). I am not acquainted with any recent writer who has given a mi- nute account of the visceral anatomy of the Camel. The Bactrian Camel (Camelus bactrianus) (two-humped), a part of which I have lately dissected, was an old male that had been long in a travelling menagerie, and was killed in consequence of old age, disease, and emaciation. I had not an opportunity of examining the brain ; but judging from the cast of one in the Hunterian Museum, from which the drawing before the Society was taken, the weight is about 24 ozs., a proportion of about 0r to the body—a small brain for an animal possessing so great an amount of docility and intelligence. The brain of an Indian Elephant that I weighed was about 12 lbs. in weight. The eye weighs 1 oz. 148 grs.; the lens 58grs. There is a pecu- liarity connected with the eye of the Camel and Dromedary that I have not seen noticed by any writer on these animals, although it can scarcely have escaped observation. If the eyes of the three animals I have spoken of in the Society’s collection are inspected, it will be seen that pigmentary masses are suspended from the pupil and pass into the anterior chamber, so as to form a kind of cur- tain to regulate the admission of light—a beautiful provision in an animal so exposed to the sun’s rays. In one of the Camels a loop of pigmentary membrane is seen in the anterior chamber of both eyes. Unfortunately I omitted to examine this part after death in the Camel I dissected. The tongue is long, narrower in the centre, and more expanded at the base and extremity ; the buccal villi long and numerous. The larynx presents no remarkable peculiarity, except that the anterior part of the thyroid cartilage is less prominent than in most of the ruminants. The trachea is of nearly uniform calibre ; it consists of seventy-five rings, and is 3 feet 11 inches in length. The thyroid glands are of an oblong shape, and entirely separate. They weigh about one ounce and a half. The heart weighs 6 lbs. 4 ozs. ; it measures 11 inches from the [3]