1818.] Philosophical Transactions for 1817, Part II. 141 



as scarcely to account for the difference between this substance 

 and common albumen. 



In consequence of the discovery of these peculiarly formed 

 gastric glands in the oesophagus of the Java swallow, Sir 

 Everard Home requested Mr. Bauer to examine the structure of 

 the external membrane of the oesophagus and stomach in the 

 human subject. It was found that the " oesophageal glands, 

 when examined in the microscope, have the appearance of 

 infundibular cells, whose depth does not exceed the thickness 

 of the membrane." The structure of these glands somewhat 

 resembles that of the same parts in birds, and, like them, pos- 

 sesses the exclusive property of coagulating milk. Mr. Bauer 

 found that the structure of the upper arch of the stomach is 

 " made up of cells in the form of a honey-comb, the sides of 

 which are not formed by the doubling of the membrane (for no 

 stretching of the cells alters the form of their orifices), but are 

 regular partitions constructed between the cells." This same 

 structure is found, only in a less distinct form, over the whole of 

 the cardiac portion of the stomach. In the pyloric portion there 

 is also the same kind of cells ; but in addition to the former struc- 

 ture, " there are small clusters, the sides of which rise above 

 the surface, giving the appearance of foliated membranes." 

 This foliated structure is still more considerable in the duode- 

 num. From his examinations the author is led to conclude that 

 the gastric glands in the human stomach are, in proportion to 

 its bulk, considerably smaller than in most other animals. 



The conclusion that is deduced from these observations is, 

 "that there are three different kinds of organization employed, in 

 adding to the food three different ingredients, which are requi- 

 site for its conversion into a material that can be assimilated 

 with living animal matter, and be employed in carrying on the 

 functions of life, also supplying the waste which is constantly 

 taking place. The most important of these is evidently the 

 gastric glands ; next in order may be considered the honey- 

 comb structure, and least so, although by no means unneces- 

 sary, the foliated membranes, which we know, from what takes 

 place in the Java swallow, form the mucus that is mixed with the 

 other ingredients." 



In the conclusion of his paper, Sir Everard Home takes occa- 

 sion to give an account of a human stomach, which was found 

 after death divided into two portions, by a firm contraction of its 

 substance, which, he conceives, affords an illustration of the 

 healthy state of the stomach while the process of digestion is 

 going forwards. 



The species of Sepia inhabiting the shell of the Argonauta 

 Argo has, by all ancient and by most modern naturalists, been, 

 considered as the proper animal of the shell. A few eminent 

 naturalists of the present day have, however, supposed that the 

 animal hitherto found in this shell is parasitical. This opinion 



