158 The Alligator and Its Allies 



a.oes. . 



P. oes.- 



c.sf. 



be kept cold, alligators may re- 

 fuse food for five or sixth months. 

 Whether, during the winter months, 

 in their native haunts, they entirely 

 cease feeding, the writer has had 

 no opportunity to observe, though 

 it is popularly reported that such 

 is the case. 



The first alligator from which 

 tissues were taken was about a year 

 and a half old, and 

 measured eighteen 

 inches in length. It 

 was killed in March 

 after a fast of several 

 >t$t months, probably four 

 or five, possibly more, 

 though it was not in 

 the writer's possession 

 for so long a time. 

 Although carefully 



Fig. 35. A diagrammatic outline of the 

 digestive tract of the alligator from the be- 

 ginning of the oesophagus to the cloaca, to 

 show the planes of the sections that were 

 studied, a.oes., anterior oesophagus; a.r., 

 anterior rectum; a.s.i., anterior small intes- 

 tine; c.st., cardiac stomach ;f.st., fundic stom- 

 ach; m.s.i., middle small intestine; p. oes., 

 posterior oesophagus; p.r., posterior rectum 

 or cloaca; p.s.i., posterior small intestine; 

 p. st., pyloric stomach. 



Or. 



FIG. 35. OUTLINE OF 

 DIGESTIVE TRACT 



