THE ALBATROSS. 397 



and muscular fibres,) is an elevated substance of 

 a soft leathery texture, resembling that of the 

 epiglottis of Mammalia : its form is triangular, 

 the apex being inferior, and connected with the 

 tongue, and the base being elevated, and ter- 

 minating in three convex portions or lobes. The 

 middle one of these lobes is the largest ; it is 

 free, and rests immediately over the triangular 

 orifice of the larynx just described, which, when 

 depressed, it is in size adapted to cover. In a 

 line continuous with the floor of the upper larynx 

 and penetrating beneath the epiglottis, is a cavity 

 or sac lined with mucous membrane." 



Having demonstrated these parts on the pre- 

 paration exhibited by him, he added that as it 

 had been the opinion of naturalists in all ages 

 that no bird possesses an epiglottis, the structure 

 which he had brought under the notice of the 

 Society appeared to him highly interesting. So 

 fixed was the opinion to which he had adverted, 

 that when Warren showed the existence in the 

 ostrich (Struthio Camelus, Linn.) of a structure 

 which he regarded as an epiglottis, the denomi- 

 nation was generally rejected, even in this ano- 

 malous bird, and the part was considered as a 

 mere elevation at the base of the tongue, a rudi- 

 ment, but without the function, of the organ. 

 In the Albatross, however, the function is that 



