162 The Alligator and Its Allies 



The most marked difference between the two 

 regions of the tongue is the presence, in the poste- 

 rior or basal region, of numerous glands, g, probably 

 mucous- or slime-secreting. They are thickly 



j&?^-^/^>^ 



FIG. 38. One of the glands from the posterior region of the tongue 

 of the hibernating animal, under high magnification; a, areolar tissue; 

 av, alveolus. 



scattered through the areolar base, close beneath 

 the epithelium. Two large glands and one small one 

 are shown in the figure under discussion. Each 

 gland opens to the surface by an apparently wide 

 duct, but since no good section of such a duct 

 was obtained it is not shown in the figure. Al- 

 though the rest of the tissue was well preserved 



