Benham. — Oil the Viscera of Notornis. 153 



lobule, overlying the ventral surface of the apex of the 

 duodenal loop. The dorsal lobe of the pancreas (l^-d.) is 

 connected with the basal lobe at its posterior end, and runs 

 forward on the dorsal face of the mesentery, close to the 

 distal limb of the duodenal loop. It is only about half the 

 length of the ventral lobe, and its posterior end overlaps the 

 intestine, as that does. 



There are in Notornis, as in some other birds, two pancre- 

 atic ducts — one connected with the dorsal lobe and one with 

 the ventral lobe. The ventral pancreatic duct (p.v.d.) arises 

 from the posterior rounded flap or lobule of the ventral lobe of 

 the pancreas, runs across the mesentery, passing ventrad to 

 the hepatic duct, and enters the distal limb of the duodenum 

 just beyond it. The dorsal pancreatic duct {p.d.d.) springs 

 from the dorsal lobe, and opens into the duodenum close to 

 the cystic duct. 



It seemed worth while to examine the tongue with some 

 care and detail, as there can be no doubt that this organ in 

 birds is of great interest and importance. I have given a 

 drawing of it in my paper in the " Proceedings of the Zoo- 

 logical Society," and will not describe it here, as a mere 

 account of it would be tedious. 



(&.) The Larynx. 



The larynx is imperfectly ossified, and suggests at once 

 the immaturity of the bird. Detailed figures are given in my 

 other paper. 



The glottis is provided with a rudimentary epiglottis in the 

 form of a small rounded cartilaginous knob, slightly overhang- 

 ing its anterior angle. 



The thyroid (or, as recent authors term it, the " cricoid " — 

 refusing to acknowledge its homology with the thyroid of 

 mammals) is a nearly flat, but slightly spoon-shaped, bone, 

 about twice as long as broad, feebly convex ventrally, slightly 

 pointed anteriorly, and truncate behind. The posterior half of 

 its lateral margin is slightly upcurved, and forms a ridge, to 

 which is articulated a bone of nearly rectangular outline, but 

 sharply curved inwards dorsally, so that it nearly meets its 

 fellow of the opposite side, from which, however, it is 

 separated by a median hexagonal bone forming the posterior 

 (dorsal) wall of the laryngeal cavity. It is interesting to note 

 that the rectangular-curve bone is independent of the spoon- 

 shaped bone, for, according to Tiedemann, Dumeril, and other 

 authorities, this posterior piece of the thyroid becomes con- 

 tinuous with "the main part of that bone in old birds. This 

 fact again points to the immaturity of our specimen of 

 Notornis. 



The median hexagonal bone is the "cricoid" of older 



"O^ 



