Observations upon the mammalian pharynx, with especial reference to the epiglottis / by R.L. Bowles.

  • Bowles, Robert L. (Robert Leamon), 1834-1913
Date:
[1889?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations upon the mammalian pharynx, with especial reference to the epiglottis / by R.L. Bowles. 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.

    12/14 page 614
    (J14 DE E. L. BOWLES. I am able to confirm Howes' observation1 concerning the intra-narial condition of the Rabbit's epiglottis. When the head is dissected from behind, in the manner which I have adopted, this becomes very striking. It has occurred to me to put the matter to the test of experiment in its bearing upon respiration, and I accordingly stopped up the nostrils of this animal for a short period during life. I found that the creature was, for the time being, quite unable to breathe through its mouth. I have repeated this experiment upon full-grown Pigs with a similar result,2 and I am inclined to believe that the condition of the epiglottis described by Howes is the normal one for the Rabbit. In addition to the foregoing, I append some notes of a more general nature, in the hope that they may be of service in the further study of the co-ordinate functions of the great cavities and organs related to the mammalian pharynx. A Horse cannot breathe or vomit through the mouth, but does it neigh through the mouth or nostrils ? A Pig snores or grunts ordinarily through the nose, but who has not heard this animal squeal through its mouth ? A Lion ought not (if the anatomy of the pharynx in a six-weeks' specimen in Professor Cleland's series at Glasgow is typical)3 to breathe, vomit, or emit noises by the mouth; and yet a friend of mine, probably one of the greatest lion-hunters of the age, assures me that Lions open their mouths with their heads low down, and appear to roar through the former. When they attack, however, they throw up their heads and emit sudden yelps like a Dog. Dogs appear 1 This vol. p. 264. 2 I saw this experiment performed, for purposes of safety, upon a violent Horse while in Paris during the slippery weather of last year. A large chestnut brougham horse had got his legs entangled between the broken shafts and harness of another horse ; in his terror he plunged and kicked most violently, and nothing appeared to be possible to save both animals from destruction, until the coachman got down from his box and grasped the chestnut's nostrils. The animal was at once subdued, and he gradually fell senseless to the ground, remaining there while the harness was cut, and all danger removed. The knowledge of the fact that pres- sure on the nares will stop the breath in horses is practically utilised in an inven- tion for stopping bolters by an arrangement of pads to the nostrils, which can be closed at the will of the rider. 3 The arch of the palate clipped the root of the epiglottis in front, like that of the Horse or full-grown Pig.
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