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.

    6/10 (page 292)
    stomach of the Dolphin, or Porpoise. These ridges evidently in- crease and decrease in size, according to the activity of the digestive process; and this explains the highly tortuous condition of the ar- teries. This cavity is shut off from the next, which I call the fifth stomach, by a strong muscular valve. The last-named stomach is thin and dilated, and terminates in the duodenum, although the great contraction at this part can scarcely be called valvular. Daubenton, who gives five stomachs to the Camel, has not included the last cavity ; but I think it is entitled to be called a fifth stomach ; indeed, if we reckon the two sets of water-bags in the rumen, the Camel may be said to have seven stomachs. No one can form a proper notion of the immense size of the Camel’s stomach unless it is seen distended: when in this state, the fol- lowing are the measurements and the capacity of the various parts :— The length of the oesophagus 6 feet; of the rumen 43 inches, its circumference 5 feet 6 inches, and it holds twenty gallons of water. The length of the second stomach is 21 inches, and its capacity about six quarts. The third stomach is 34 inches in length, and holds about three gallons of water. The fourth stomach is 8 inches in length, and contains three quarts of water. The fifth cavity is 9 inches long, and holds about two quarts of water. The capacity of all is about twenty-five gallons three quarts; and the length of all, when distended, is 9 feet 6 inches. As regards the quantity of water that these cavities hold I, of course, cannot speak with perfect accuracy. The muscular bands and the mode of closure of the water-bags have been so often described that I need not allude to them; but there is one piece of mechanism in connexion with this apparatus that I think has been overlooked, viz. the arrangement of the ex- ternal muscular fibres of the rumen. Many of these wide muscular strips terminate in finger-like divisions, which are so spread out as to exercise, I believe, a material influence on the closure of the water- cavities. I supposed until recently that only the Camelidce had water-cavi- ties in the stomachs ; but on dissecting an Antelope from Siberia, the Saiga (Antilope saiga), I was surprised to find two large water-bags in the rumen; and I hope to bring the visceral anatomy of this rare animal before the Society at a future time. The small intestines of the Camel measured 114 feet by 2 feet 6 inches, the colon and rectum 27 feet 6 inches, making in all a length of 159 feet 6 inches. In the Alpaca (Auclienia pacos) I found the length of the alimentary tube 70 feet, whilst that of the Huanaco (Auclienia huanaco) was 95 feet. In my paper on some parts of the anatomy of the Giraffe and Nylgau (P. Z. S. 1864, p. 63), I stated that the investigation of the intestinal glands of the lower animals had been much neglected, and that a wide field was left for future inquirers. The dissection of this animal reveals another curious structure in connexion with the intestinal mucous membrane. Near to the csecal valve I found eight large glandular folds of the mucous membrane; three of these [6]