Observations on the genus Salamandra : and description of a new genus of quadrupeds, of the order Edentata / by Richard Harlan.

  • Harlan, Richard, 1796-1843.
Date:
[1825]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the genus Salamandra : and description of a new genus of quadrupeds, of the order Edentata / by Richard Harlan. 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.

    8/42 (page 228)
    swallowed without comminuting. The intestinal canal is large, and thrown into numerous folds, and terminates finally in ari unusually large cloaca. The liver is oblong, and divided into two lobes, between which is situated the gall-bladder, of a large size, whose duct opens into the intestine two inches from the stomach. The spleen is of a reddish yellow colour, and situated in the centre of the mesentery. Organs of Respiration. Glottis opens one inch and a half from the extremity of the snout, (it is a mere rima.) Trachea membranous, one inch in length, dividing beneath the clavi- cles to form two lungs, three inches in length. Lungs vesicu- lar, elastic, vascular : in structure resembling those of the Testudo ; they lay posterior to the other viscera. Organs of Circulation. The vena cava inferior, traverses the liver, and enlarges previous to emptying into the auricle, which is single, and very large ; this empties immediately into the ventricle, which is also single, and whence a large fleshy artery goes off, as in fish and the larvae of Salamanders, but the distribution of this artery differs from the above-mentioned animals; after running three tenths of an inch, it forms a sac, which gives off three branches, viz. one to each lung, and a larger one which continues down the spine to nourish the whole body. Remaining viscera. The urinary bladder, testicles, and kidneys, resemble very much those organs in the Amphiuma. Osteology. Skull composed of a solid piece of bone, arti- culated by two condyles to the atlas. From the head to the pelvis there are nineteen vertebrae, and eighteen ribs on either side, (or rather moveable rudiments of ribs, similar to the other individuals of this family,) the atlas only, as in the Sala- manders, being deprived of this appendage. Having com- pared this part of the osseous structure with the analogous genera, I shall give the result in a tabular form.