188 The Alligator and Its Allies 



occasional exception, near the top, all of the nuclei 

 are arranged in a fairly wide zone below the middle 

 of the epithelium. The nuclei are oval in shape and 

 lie so close together that it is difficult, as has been 

 said, to be sure that the cell to which each belongs 

 extends throughout the entire thickness of the 

 epithelium. 



Beneath the epithelium (Fig. 52, e) is a dense 

 tunica propria, tp, underlaid, in turn, by the 

 muscularis mucosa, mm, and a submucosa, sm, 

 of the usual character, which is thrown into marked 

 folds. The circular, cm, and longitudinal, Im, 

 layers are of the usual character except that they 

 vary more in thickness, as noted above, and in 

 density than is usually the case. 



The serosa, s, is comparatively thin and com- 

 pact in both regions, and varies somewhat in 

 thickness at different places. 



The large intestine of the feeding animal was 

 sectioned in the same regions as in the hibernating. 

 As has been said, the feeding animals used were 

 much smaller than the hibernating, so that, as 

 might be expected, the diameter of the large 

 intestine was much less in the former than in the 

 latter. Except for this difference in diameter 

 there was no noticeable difference between the two 

 stages. In the case of the small intestine, it will 

 be remembered, the greater diameter of the intes- 

 tine of the larger animal was mainly due to the 

 greater thickness of the muscular and connective- 



