NATURAL SCIENCES OP PHILADELPHIA. 47 



The following brief anatomical notes maybe of interest, as the species has 

 not hitherto been dissected. They relate chiefly to the alimentary canal : 



Anatomical Notes. On the roof of the mouth a narrow but prominent me- 

 dian ridge runs from the very apex of the upper mandible to the fissure of 

 the posterior nares, widening, becoming less sharply defined, and more ob- 

 tusely papillated towards its posterior extremity. At a point about a third of 

 its length from its termination it is crossed at right angles by a very short, 

 transverse ridge, which connects it on either side with a lateral ridge. These 

 lateral ridges run parallel with each other as far back as the Eustachian ori- 

 fice, and are papillated for their whole length, which papilla? are anteriorly 

 sparsely distributed, short, stout and obtuse ; posteriorly gradually becoming 

 thick-set, long, soft and acute. The ridges themselves terminate abruptly in 

 the smooth, soft, mucous membrane of the posterior portions of the palate, 

 measuring 1-60 inches in length. That portion of the palate between these 

 ridges and the nasal fissure is roughened by numerous short, blunt tubercles. 

 From the extremity of that portion of the nasal fissure which has soft, ele- 

 vated, approximate ridges, there runs outwards on either side a fringe of 

 delicate papilla;. Rather more than the posterior third of the nasal fissure 

 stands broadly open, and has hard, immobile, bony edges, over which the 

 mucous membrane is tightly and smoothly stretched. The nasal aperture 

 measures in total length 1-25. Just posterior to it, on the median line of the 

 palate, is the opening of the Eustachian tube, situated in the centre of a smooth, 

 somewhat vaulted space. In shape it is oval, and its edges, though somewhat 

 mobile, are not completely approximable. From its posterior extremity, on 

 either side, a fringe of soft papilla? curves obliquely outwards and forwards. 

 The rest of the palate is not noticeable. Posteriorly it is very soft, and nu- 

 merous vessels may be seen ramifying beneath its mucous membrane. An- 

 teriorly it becomes harder and more fibrous, and finally, towards the tip of 

 the bill, quite corneous. 



The tongue is large and fleshy, its tip obtusely rounded, its lateral outline 

 convex, its dorsum with a median furrow, its under surface with a corres- 

 ponding ridge, its posterior extremity deeply bifid, the edges of the fork 

 corneous, and armed with stiff, hard, papillae. The outermost of these pa- 

 pillae is greatly developed, forming a large, strong, acutely pointed spine. 

 The tongue is -75 long ; its laryngeal fissure '50. The elevated space 

 just posterior to the rima glottidis is pure white, and thickly beset with 

 stiff, acute papillae, some of which have black tips. 



On the floor of the mouth, on either side of the frenum linguae, at the apex 

 of the angle formed by the divergence of the inferior maxillary rami, lies a 

 thin, flattened, broadly oval gland, a third of an inch long, of a deep pur- 

 plish red color. Its surface is studded with numerous depressed puucta,',the 

 orifices of the emunctory ducts. 



The trachea is 5-50 inches long, and -45 wide at its superior extremity ; 

 rings about 90 in number. It is broad and much flattened superiorly, but 

 towards the lower larynx becomes more cylindrical. The lateral muscles are 

 well developed. The lower larynx, as usual in this order, is quite simple. 

 The bronchial half-rings are 15 in number, all small, soft and weak. 



The oesophagus is extremely capacious and dilatable. The distended crop 

 is irregularly ovoid in shape ; 3-50 long by about 2-25 wide. 



The proventricular glands form a complete zone, with a uniform width of 

 1-25. The proventricular parietes is about one-twelfth of an inch in 

 thickness. The individual glands are large enough to be readily discernible 

 to the naked eye ; closely aggregated in the parenchyma of the parietes. Their 

 orifices are plainly visible, thickly studding the whole internal surface of the 

 organ ; and during active digestion the mucous membrane is covered with 

 their thick, glairy, viscid secretion. 



The fully distended gigerium occupies about three-fourths of the abdominal 

 cavity. It reaches within an inch of the rectum, inclining towards the left 



1866.] 



