64 Zoological Society. 



no mention of a pancreas, but describes the outer spaces of this 

 part as occupied only by fat, I was induced to examine it minutely, 

 and discovered the gland between the first and last portions of the 

 gut ; and having laid open the duct, an eye-probe passed readily 

 through it into the upper end of the last portion of the duodenum, 

 a quarter of an inch beyond the orifice of the biliary duct. 



" The rest of the small intestines varied only in diameter where 

 Jlatus had accumulated, and at these parts the zigzag rugce were 

 almost obliterated. Mr. Hunter has remarked in his .Anatomy of 

 Whales (Phil. Trans. Ixxvii. p. 410), that he has ' never found any 

 air in the intestines of this tribe : nor indeed in any of the aquatic 

 animals.* But this remark does not appear to apply to those ani- 

 mals whose habits are only partially aquatic. 



" The rectum opens directly into the genlto-urinary cavity, and 

 does not pass beyond it, as in Tortoises, to terminate in the outer 

 cavity or vestibule (x'e5^«6«/«)?J commune, Geoff.). The termination 

 in this instance was denoted by a valve not circular, but rather 

 spirally disposed ; and the character of the lining membrane of the 

 genito-urinary cavity was very distinct from that of the rectum, 

 being more coarsely villous, and of a redder colour: this cavity 

 was an inch in length; the ureters opened at the lower part, just 

 above or within the valve that separates it from the cuter cavity. 

 The lower or ventral margin of the valveis grooved, and the groove 

 is continued on into that oi i\\e penis. 



" The peritoneal canals opened externally on two small papillce 

 placed one on either side the root of the penis ; they also commu- 

 nicated at about a line distant from their external aperture, with 

 the cavernous structure of the jjenis. From the minute size of 

 these orifices, which barely allow of the passage of an eye- probe, 

 and their disposition on apnpi/la, equivalent to a valvular structure 

 on pressure from without, it is difficult to imagine that any water 

 can be admitted from without into the peritoneal cavity ; yet M. 

 Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire hazards the hypothesis that water is so ad- 

 mitted by means of a similar mechanism to that by which air passes 

 through the trachea into the pulmonary cavity, the peritoneum being 

 thus rendered an accessory organ of respiration. 'Le voila,' he 

 says, (speaking of the Crocodile, in his ' Description dcs Reptiles de 

 I'Egypte,' page 237,) 'veritable amphibie, dans ce sens qu'il est 

 animal aerien par sa poitrine et animal aquatique par une modifi- 

 cation de I'etat de son abdomen.' Yet, notwithstanding the op- 

 portunities this author enjoyed of examining the Crocodile under 

 circumstances most favourable for such an observation, he does 

 not appear to have ever detected water in the abdominal ca- 

 vity; nor any peculiarity in the contents of that cavity, which 

 would give support to his hypothesis. 



"The appearances in this dissection precisely accorded with the 

 description given by M. Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire of the diaphragm 

 and its connection with the liver in the Egi/ptian Crocodile. 



" The spleen lies on the right side of the abdomen, beneath the 

 right lobe of the liver ; it was two inches and a half in length, and 



about 



