XL] THE ALIMENTARY SYSTEM. 445 



commencement of the intestine, and not into the stomach 

 proper (Figs. 381 and 382, p}. 



Another and an exceedingly exceptional condition of the 

 stomach may exist, as e.g. in the blood-sucking Bat Des- 

 modus. Here we have the cardiac end produced into an 

 enormously prolonged pouch, while the pyloric part is re- 

 duced to a rudiment the highly nutritious food (blood) 

 requiring very little digestion, but needing a large chamber 

 for its speedy reception. 



FIG. 377. STOMACH AND ADJACENT VISCERA OF THE BAT Desmodiis. 



(After Huxley.) 



ae, oesophagus ; en, cardiac part of the stomach enormously elongated to cd, the 

 cardiac caecum ; py, short pyloric part of the stomach ; /, liver ; s, spleen. 



Instead of being prolonged, the stomach may be very 

 much shorter than in man, and indeed its depth may exceed 

 its length, as is the case in the Ornithorhynchus and some 

 Insectivora, e.g. Rhynchocyon. It may also be globular, as 

 in the Fish Monnyrus. 



Special glandular structures may exist which have no 

 representatives in man. Thus, as in the Rodent Lopliiomys, 

 there may be a glandular offshoot from the stomach near 

 the pylorus. Again, there may be (as in the Wombat and 

 Beaver) a glandular mass Avithin the stomach, situated be- 

 tween the cesophageal and pyloric apertures. Finally, there 

 may be (as in the Dugong) a complex gland within the 

 cardiac fundus, formed by a membrane which is spirally 

 arranged below, but radiating above. 



