Account of the dissection of a young rorqual, or short whalebone whale, (the Balaena rostrata of Fabricius) : with a few observations on the anatomy of the foetal Mysticetus / by Dr. Knox.
- Robert Knox
- Date:
- [1834?]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Account of the dissection of a young rorqual, or short whalebone whale, (the Balaena rostrata of Fabricius) : with a few observations on the anatomy of the foetal Mysticetus / by Dr. Knox. 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.
5/12 page 5
![doxus and echidna mammary glands, and do they also secrete milk ? This position M. St Hilaire doubts. He thinks the glands of the ornithorynchus sexual, specific, and odoriferous, and that the abdo- minal glands of the Cetacea may be similar to those of the ornitho- rynchus. As he has thought fit to question M. Baer’s objections to his views at great length, the author thinks it will abbreviate the discussion much, if these distinguished naturalists will take the fol- lowing observations into consideration. The term Mammary may still be applied to two glands lying on each side of the organs of generation, until it be proved that they are not the Mamma;; in which case the Cetacea will be removed, so far as regards the name, from the great class of animals with which they have been hitherto arranged. Whatever be the functions of these, the structure in the young Rorqual dissected by the author was as follows :— On each side the fissure of the vulva,* but perfectly distinct from it, being ] ^ inches from its edge, and running parallel with it, are two fissures, 3 inches long, leading into cavities about an inch in depth. In the bottom of this cavity, and about the middle, there projects a small nipple-like process, about the size of the end of the little finger, the projection of this, however, being but little elevated. In the centre of these nipple-like processes, there is an aperture, suf- ficiently large to admit a middling-sized boujie ; these apertures lead each to a canal, extending upwards under the integuments of the abdomen for several inches. Unfortunately, their full extent up- wards could not be determined, but they were traced for 6 inches, during which extent they had not diminished greatly in calibre, so that conjecturally, one-third at least of their total length had been removed in cutting out the parts. The membrane lining the inte- rior of these tubes may be called mucous, just as all internal redu- plications of the skin leading towards the interior of the body are * From the edge of the vulva to the opening of the vagina, i. c. the open- ing of the fissure, was exactly 34 inches; the depth of the fissure in which the nipple was placed being 14 inches. Length of the fissure in which the vagina and meatus urinarius were placed, 7 inches; its greatest depth 34 inches. The length here meant is to that part where the fissure for the anus commences, and that of the vulva splits as it were into two lateral fissures, about an inch in length. Length of the fissure in which the anus is placed, 3 inches.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22434653_0007.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
