DOUBLE CAECUM IN A GOAT—A CASE OF ANATOMICAL
                                         PECULIARITY.

                                                   BY

                            S. C. A. DATTA, B.Sc., M.R.C.V.S.,

Temporary Veterinary Research Officer, Imperial Institute of Veterinary Research,
                                                  Muktesar.

                        (Received for publication on 6th October 1931.)

                                             (With Plate VI.)

Various degrees of peculiarities and defects in anatomical structure have been
met with in domesticated animals. In extreme cases of teratology, such as mons-
ter-formation, the performance of normal physiological functions is interfered
with and the life of the individual is thereby brought to a premature end. In
simpler cases the animal leads a normal life and appears to be perfectly well in spite
of the peculiarities in its bodily structure. Occasionally, a duplication, even a
triplication or the entire absence of certain organs or viscera may be encountered
apparently without any detriment to the animal. It will be seen from what follows
that apart from cases of abnormalities of the exterior of an animal, such as, poly-
dactylism in cattle or " earlessness " in sheep, instances of peculiarities in the
viscera involving either the spleen, gall bladder, intestines, urinary bladder, etc.,
have been described. For instance, reports are available on (i) three spleens in a
calf [ Ercolani, 1893 ], (ii) duplication of urinary bladder in a mare [ Fruner, 1887],
( iii) and also in a calf [ Menzel, 1905 ], (iv) urinary bladder with two large diverti-
cula in a horse [ Wolstenholme, 1892 ], (v) abnormal intestinal diverticula in a
heifer [ Kinsley, 1908 ], (vi) duplication of the gall bladder in a sheep [ White,
1916 ].

Yamane [ 1927 ] describes a case of atresia coli, characterised by a complete
lack of development in the region of the ascending colon and ascribes all such cases
to a Percheron stallion, the condition, in his opinion, being transmitted as a simple
Mendelian recessive.

The present communication is concerned with yet another case of anatomical
peculiarity and this, it is believed, is the first case recorded of double caeca in a
mammal. During routine post-mortem examination at Muktesar, this peculiarity
was encountered in a black and white goat, three years of age, which was passing

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