463 



mid-ventral line 



Everywhere in the skin a network of capillaries is found similar 

 to that figured by Bethge for Spelerpes fuscus. This network 

 lies below and in contact with the epidermis. The epithelium of the 

 mouth and pharynx is also richly supplied with blood vessels, which 

 proved, on sectioning, to lie very near the surface. In some places 

 they are separated from the outside by a single layer of flattened 

 epithelial cells. 



While studying the blood supply of the anterior portion of the 

 alimentary canal, I found a remarkable network of capillaries extending 

 through the entire wall of the oesophagus. Other writers have alluded 

 to these oesophageal blood vessels in merely general terms, and I have 

 nowhere seen their arrangement or distribution described or pictured. 



Figure 1 shows the distribution of the larger and smaller blood 

 vessels of Desmognathus fuse a in that portion of the alimentary 

 tract between pharynx and stomach. 

 The dorsal aorta in this preparation, 

 which was a mount in toto, is dis- 

 placed to the right, especially near 

 the posterior end. The oesophageal 

 network is plainly shown. Branches 

 of the Arteriae maxillares externae 

 on the dorsal wall and of the 

 Arteriae pharyngeae on the ventral 

 ■wall become finely subdivided in the 

 oesophagus. The Arteriae pulmo- 

 nales, which anastomose with an 

 Arteria gastrica of each side, also 

 pass over this region and send out 

 branches to the oesophagus. The 

 blood is collected in veins, espe- 

 cially the Venae oesophageae , the 

 beginnings of which are shown in 

 the figure. 



A more highly magnified portion 

 of the oesophageal wall is shown in 

 Figure 2. Longitudinal ridges in the 

 oesophagus and anterior portion 

 of the stomach contain groups of 

 fine blood vessels, running parallel Fig. 2. Part of ventral wall ot 



to the ridges and to one another, oesophagus, showing capillaries of five 



. . longitudinal ridges. Camera lucida. 



Ihe longitudmal vessels are all Zeiss aa, 1. 



