Zoological Society. 63 



the liver ; from these parts it descends, enveloping the spleen and 

 covering the anterior part of the kidneys and testes, and being con- 

 tinued from the middle line of the abdomen, surrounds the intes- 

 tines in the usual manner, forming a rather loose mesentery: thus 

 the abdomen appears to contain only the intestines, gall-bladder, 

 spleen, kidneys, and genital glands. The serous membrane which 

 covers the upper surface of the stomach is reflected upon the under 

 surface of the left lobe of the liver, and forms a distinct cavity con- 

 fined to these parts. Along the line of the stomach, where the 

 superior and inferior serous membranes are contiguous, a quantity 

 of fat is interposed, together with the principal vessels of the sto- 

 mach, analogous to the omentum. The serous membranes analo- 

 gous to Xhe j)ieu7-ce, after lining tlie sides of the chest, entirely sur- 

 round the lungs, and are reflected on each side upon the superior 

 and lateral aspects of the liver, a process dipping down between 

 the lung and the liver, but forming only a partial septum, and ter- 

 minating in a concave edge towards the back. On each side 

 of the pe7-ica7-diu7n there is also a distinct serous membrane, which 

 is reflected from the lower part of that bag upon the mesial aspect 

 of the liver: so that, including thepmc'art?/?<w itself, there are no 

 less than seven distinct serous membranes in the trunk of the Cro- 

 codile ; and of these, one has the additional peculiarity of being 

 continuous with the common integument. 



" The only part of the intestinal canal that presented anything 

 worthy of notice, in addition to previous descriptions, was the sto- 

 mach. This viscus, from its shining lateral tendons and muscuiar 

 structure, has generally been considered as a gizzard ; but the pro- 

 priety of this denomination has been questioned by M. Geoffroy- 

 Saint-Hilaire, on the ground of its wanting a cuticular lining. In 

 this individual, however, the interior of the stomach presented two 

 smooth round patches about the size of a crown-piece, situated on 

 opposite sides of the cavity ; they were not, indeed, detachable as a 

 membrane distinct from the villous coat, and appeared to differ only 

 in having a smoother surface : this appearance, however, adds to 

 the analogy that this viscus bears to the gizzards of birds. Another 

 circimistance in favour of this analogy is the fact of pebbles 

 being commonly found in the stomach. M. Geoffroy-^iaint- 

 Hilaire met with them in the Egyptian Crocodile, and observed that 

 the)' were rendered smooth by the action of triturating the ali- 

 mentary substances. In the present instance, there were five small 

 pebbles in the stomach, the largest of which was about 8 lines in 

 the longest diameter. 



" The valve at the orifice by which the small pyloric cavity 

 communicates with the duodenum appears rather to oppose the 

 passage of matter into that intestine ; and both orifices are remark- 

 ably small as compared with the size of the stomach, and especi- 

 ally with the size of the cardiac aperture : the diameter of each did 

 not exceed 3 lines. 



" The duodenum formed the same double fold as <lescribeti by 

 M. GeofFroy-Saint-Hilaire in the Egyptian species. As he makes 



no 



