On the anatomy of the elk (Alces malchis) / by Morrison Watson and A.H. Young.

  • Watson, Morrison.
Date:
[1879]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the anatomy of the elk (Alces malchis) / by Morrison Watson and A.H. Young. 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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    [Extractedfrom the Lixxeax Society’s Journal— vol. xiv.] / 'l ^ 7 , / On the Anatomy of the Elk (Aloes malchis). Prof. MorriSox Watsox, M.D., and A. H. Yotrxo, M.B.f'^OWena Coll Manchester. §:< is m is 'si (Plates VI. & VII.) Eor the opportunity of examining the anatomy o indebted to the kindness of Messrs. Jennison, of the Zoological Gardens, Manchester. The structure of this animal, so far as we have been able to ascertain from a reference to such books as are at our disposal, appears to have been very imperfectly worked out. Indeed, with the single exception of a paper by Perrault *, in which only the most obvious points in the anatomy of the organs of digestion and circulation are referred to, we have been unable to discover any anatomical description whatever of this aberrant species. The dissection was commenced with the inten- tion of drawing up a complete account of the anatomy of the animal; and had the period of the year been favourable, this would certainly have been done. Coming, however, as the sub- ject did, into our hands in the month of August, we soon found that decomposition advanced so rapidly that we were compelled to abandon this intention, and, after placing the viscera in spirit, to confine ourselves to the muscular anatomy of the limbs, trust- ing at some future time to be able to supplement the fragmentary notes which form the subject of the present communication. These notes, however, appear, so far as they go, to contain obser- vations which have not hitherto been published, and we therefore venture to place them on record without further apology. Orgaxs of Digestiox. Tongue (PI. YI. fig. 1).—The tongue is broader and more flat- tened toward the tip than is usual among the Cervidas. Its base for a distance of 3 inches in front of the hyoid bone is smooth and devoid of papillae, which begin to make their appearance on the dorsum radicis (Zaglas). The papillae vallatae are small, and are confined to the borders of the tongue in the neigh- bourhood of the root; they do not extend further forward than the dorsum radicis. The rest of the upper surface of the tongue, * Memoires de 1’Academic royale des Sciences, Paris, 1733.