39 



The stomach, ccecum, and portions of the skeleton vvere laid on 

 the table. Mr. Brookes remarked that the cartilage which, passing 

 from the carpus, afFords support to the volitant merabrane in the 

 Flying-Squirrels, is found in all the Pteromijes and Sciuropteri ; but 

 that it does not exist in Galeopithecus. 



One of the specimens of Suricate [[Ryzcena tetradactyla, Illig.)f 

 which vvere exhibited to the Committee on tlie 25th January, having 

 diedj the following notes respecting its anatomy \vere read by Mr. 

 Ovven. 



" The speciraen was a female, and measured, from the end of the 

 snout to the vent, 1 1 inches. On opening the body it vvas observed 

 that the bile had exuded through the peritoneum, and had stained the 

 ensiform cartilage close to which ūiefundus of the gall-bladder lay. 

 The viscera of the abdomen presented a beautiful appearance when 

 exposed; the liver occupied the hypochondriac and epigastric re- 

 glons ; below this appeared the stomach \vith its vessels injected, 

 and along the convexity of this organ the spleen swept across the 

 abdomen from the lefl to the right lumbar region ; the convoluted 

 intestines occupying the lower part. 



" The cesopJiagus has a course of about half an inch in the abdo- 

 men, and enters the stomach half an inch from the left extreraity 

 of that viscus. The stomach is of a full oval shape, vvithout any 

 contraction in the middle, and retaining the sarae circumference to 

 very near the pylorus : its longitiidinal diameter is 2 inches ; its 

 depth 1 inch 10 lines. There is a large omentum, broadly attached 

 to the stomach and spleen, which was hidden among the convolu- 

 tions of the small intestines. The duodenum makes a large curve at 

 the right side of the abdomen, is a loose intestine throughout its 

 whole course, having a mesoduodentim vvhich becomes sbortcr as it 

 approaches the spine at the lower part of its curve ; it is continued 

 into the jejunum before it crosses the spine. The small intestine 

 then descends into the left iliac region, makes a sudden turn up- 

 wards, and after a few convolutions again at the lower part of the 

 abdomen, terminatęs in the ccecum which is situated in the left lum- 

 bar region just above the left kidney. The circumference of the 

 small intestines is nearly the šame throughout their course, viz. 

 1 inch ; their length 3 feet 2 inches. 



" The ccecum is nearly an inch in length, with a rounded extremity, 

 and rather contracted at its commencenient ; but its position and 

 direction are the reverse of the ccecian in the human subject, having 

 the blind end pointing to the diaphrjgm, and lying, as in birds, by 

 the side of the small intestine, and in the direction of the large intes- 

 tine, which is continued almost straight dovvn to the aynis. There 

 is not any natūrai division into colon or rectiim, the large intestine 

 being without longitudinal bands or sacculi, and measuring in length 

 only six inches. The circumference is rather more than that of the 

 small intestines. 



" The liver is tripartite, with alobnlus Spigelii ; the right division 

 is bilobed; the middle division has three lobes, with the gali bladder 



