The Digestive System 



183 



I m 



cm 



mm 



m 



The epithelium is of the stratified columnar type. 

 The superficial cells are very tall and narrow, 

 with the nuclei generally at or near the bases, 

 though an occasional nu- 

 cleus may be seen near 

 the free end of a cell. 

 Below the tall columnar 

 cells are four or five rows 

 of nuclei which represent 

 smaller, irregular cells, 

 though the cell walls could 

 not always be deter- 

 mined between the closely 

 packed nuclei. No goblet 

 cells are to be seen at 

 any place. 



The relative diameters 

 of the three regions of 

 the small intestine in 

 the feeding condition are 

 about the same as noted 

 for the hibernating stage ; 

 that is, the anterior re- 

 gion has the greatest diameter and the other 

 regions are smaller and have about the same aver- 

 age diameter. 



The most marked difference between the intes- 

 tine during hibernation and feeding is in the relative 

 thickness of the mucosa and muscular layers. As 

 described for the hibernating stage, so in the feed- 



FIG. 49. An outline of a trans- 

 section through the wall of the 

 posterior region of the small in- 

 testine of the hibernating animal, 

 under low magnification; letter- 

 ing as in Figure 42. 



