610 STERCORARIUS POMATORHINUS, POMARINE JAEGER. 



extent. At the proventricnhis it is somewhat enlarged, but the dilatation is by no 

 means very marked, and there is no change in the direction of the tube. The belt of 

 gastric glands in the proven tricul us is about an inch in uniform breadth, and forms a 

 complete iniinterrupted zone. The line of demarcation between it and the simple mu- 

 cous membrane of the a3sophagus is very distinct and quite straight. The color is quite 

 different, being of a slaty tinge, while that of the a'sophagus is rather reddish ; and it 

 has a peculiar soft velvety feel. The openings of the gastric tubules may be readily 

 seen with the naked eye, scattered thickly and evenly over the whole surface. On 

 making an incision into the proventricular walls, the follicles themselves are plainly 

 disceruably lying imbedded in the tissue side by side. As well as can be made out with 

 an ordinary magnifying glass, they seem to be simple, straight, cylindrical tubes, of a 

 nearly uniform diameter, commencing by a free, rounded, closed extremity ; and pro- 

 ceeding directly to open on the surface of the gastric mucous membraue. Their length 

 is but little less than the thickness of the proventricular parietes. The zone of glands 

 is directly continuous with the lining membrane of the gizzard. 



The gizzard is situated behind and somewhat posterior to the left lobe of the liver, 

 lying far back in the abdomen, opposite the space between the last rib and the ramus 

 of the pubis. It is a regular flattened oval in shape, one and three quarters of an inch 

 long h\ one and a quarter wide, and three quarters thick. It continues in a direct line 

 from the proventriculus. The central tendons are of rather small extent, most of the 

 parietes being muscular ; but the bulk of the muscular fibre seems small, when we 

 reflect that fishes, &c., are swallowed almost entire, and that consequently the bones 

 require trituration. The thickest part of the muscular walla of the gizzard in its uncon- 

 tracted state, is only about a fourth of an inch. 



The cuticular lining of the gizzard is thrown up into ruga? and folds, which, on the 

 sides, are tolerably regularly arranged longitudinally ; but at the bottom of the cul-de- 

 sac, and about the cardiac and pyloric orifice, are irregularly reticulated. This mem- 

 cbrane is of a dark or reddisb color, and very strong and tough ; but it is of uniform 

 ■width, presenting little or no thickening opposite the bellies of the lateral muscles. It 

 terminates abruptly at the two orifices of the gizzard by a .«imple free extremity. 



There is hardly any constriction of the proventriculus at the commencement of the 

 _ gizzard, so that the cardiac orifice is nearly as large as the proventriculus itself. The 

 pyloric orifice, on the contrary, is quite small. There does not api^ear to be any valve 

 protecting it, other than the puckering of the membrane surrounding it. 



The intestinal canal is between twenty-eight and thirty inches in length, from the 

 pylorus to the anus. The duodenal fold begins almost immediately from the pylorus, 

 curliug around the right side of the gigerium to get behind and below it, and not as- 

 cending very high; it is about two inches and a half in length, as usual containing 

 in its concavity the pancreas. Just beyond the termination of the fold are the open- 

 ings for the hepatic and pancreatic ducts, in very close proximity to each other. 



The cwca are present and well developed, being quite long, when we consider the pisci- 

 vorous character of the bii-d. They arise about two and a half inches from the anus, 

 and measure two and three quarter inches in total length. They are throughout ap- 

 posed to the intestine ; they increase in calibre from their origin to the extremities, which 

 are free and club-shaped. The large intestine is thus very short and straight, and doej 

 not differ materially in size from the other portion of the intestines. The rectum ter- 

 minates in a large globular cloaca. 



The spleen is a small, narrow, elongated organ, about half an inch in length, of a 

 slightly elliptical shape, rounded extremities, and of a light, dull-reddish color. Its 

 situation in the specimens examined was, as nearly as could be determined, behind and 

 to tlie'right of the proventriculus, between it and the corresponding hepatic lobe. 



The liver is of moderate size, consisting of two unequal lobes ; of these the right one 

 is much larger than the left, measuring two and a quarter inches in length, while the 

 other is less than two inches. Both are of about the same width, measuring nearly an 

 inch, and are of an irregularly triangular shape on a transverse section. The right is 

 more elongated, with sharper edges and thinner extremities than the left. They are 

 quite separated fjom each other except superiorly, where rather a thin but broad band 

 of glandular substance stretches between and unites them. There is no indication of 

 a third posterior lobe — a "lobulus Spigelii." I have failed in detecting a gall-bladder. 

 The two lobes lie in close api^osition, excei)t abo.e, where they divaricate for the re- 

 ception of the apex of the heart. 



The kidneys commence opposite to the interspace between the penultimate and the 

 antepenultimate ribs, immediately below the termination of the lungs, and extend to 

 the end of the sacrum. They are, as usual, accurately moulded to the bony depress- 

 ions and elevations in their course, their anterior surfaces being more smooth and 

 rounded. They are divided into only two pretty distinct and nearly disconnected por- 

 tions. The sui)erior of these is much the larger and is broader, with more decidedly 

 convex borders. 



The cloaca is very capacious and of a nearly globular shape, inclining somewhat to 

 the conoidal from the stretching up of its fundus to join the rectum. The division 



