CHAPTER VIII 



THE VASCULAR SYSTEM 



THE account given by Bronn in his Thierreich 

 is apparently the only published description 

 of the circulatory organs in the Crocodilia. 

 This account, even when translated, is not very 

 satisfactory, especially because it contains no dia- 

 grams of the circulation. It was, therefore, deemed 

 worth while to work out the circulation in the 

 Florida alligator in order that we might have not 

 only a written description, but also a series of more 

 or less accurate diagrams of the veins and arteries. 



A number of departures from the description of 

 Bronn were found, some of which are noted below. 



Most of the work was done upon animals of 

 about thirty inches length, which were obtained 

 alive from the Arkansas Alligator Farm at Hot 

 Springs, Ark. 



The arteries w r ere injected with a colored starch 

 mass by inserting a two-way cannula into the 

 dorsal aorta. With the blood thus forced into 

 them from the arteries, the veins could, in most 

 cases, be traced without difficulty. 



2OI 



