On the anatomy of a fin-whale (Physalus antiquorum, Gray) captured near Gravesend / by James Murie.

  • Murie, James.
Date:
[1865]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the anatomy of a fin-whale (Physalus antiquorum, Gray) captured near Gravesend / by James Murie. 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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    monury artery and aorta; longer above than below, on account of the divarication of these vessels. Length of its upper border 3|, of the lower 2; circumference 7. Its canal was sufficiently closed to prevent the passage of blood, by reason of the elasticity of the walls ; but a probe the thickness of a quill could be pushed through the entire distance. The kidneys, lobulated, had each lobule averaging the size of a plum. One kidney was GO inches long by 17 broad, the other 66 inches hy 15, both elongated and oval-shaped, their extremities decreasing to a transverse diameter of 8 inches. As is usual in Cetacea, the penis was conical; and when we exa- mined the animal, it was not retracted, but hung loosely from the abdomen. In length it was 48 inches ; at its widest, circumference 25 inches, tapering to less than two at the point. At this last the termination of the canal of the urethra opened rather on the under surface (fig. 3 b) ; the opening was crescentic, with the horns for- wards, and on the roof a slightly depending ridge of mucous mem- brane. Behind this, at the distance of 1| inch, existed a second opening into the urethra (fig. 3 a), subcircular in form, nearly equal in size to the first, and with indented edges. Around this, for almost the size of a shilling piece, the cuticle exhibited a minute linear-rayed appearance, not unlike certain forms of cicatrices. From the internal lining of the opposite surface of the mucous membrane a nipple-like process protruded, dividing the canal as it were into two passages. This projection appeared to be part of a longitudi- nal ridge of the mucous membrane, extending along the roof of the canal of the urethra. Fig. 3. Whether this very unusual second perforation of the urethra was normal, or only the result of injury or of pathological origin, I will [10]
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