176 ON THE ANATOMY OF THE KOALA. 



right kidney lies superficially to the liver. The duodenal loop passes 

 downwards and to the right, and overlies the right kidney, but passes 

 under the ascending colon just here. 



The stomach is cylindrical and sac-like. Its length, moderately 

 distended, is about 3$ inches; its greatest depth, opposite the pyloric 

 constriction, 1| inch. There is a well-marked cardiac fundus to the left 

 of the oesophagus, and the pyloric part is slightly bent on the cardiac 

 part ; this latter is marked off internally by a distinct fold of the mucous 

 membrane, which is smooth and pale, with some slight traces of rugae 

 in the cardiac fundus. 



The most marked peculiarity of the Koala's stomach is its possession, 

 as is well known, of a special gland-patch, similar to that found in the 

 Beaver* and "Wombat f. This gland-patch forms a slight elevation 

 externally on the lesser curvature of the stomach, just on the pyloric 

 side of the entrance of the oesophagus. It is somewhat saddle-shaped, 

 with a transverse extent of 1*4 inch. Internally it forms an eminence 

 about the size of a florin, which includes the entrance of the oesophagus. 

 The mucous membrane on the gland-patch, around the entrance of the 

 oesophagus, is red and vascular ; elsewhere in the stomach, as already 

 stated, it is quite pale. The openings of the gland-patch are about 30 in 

 number, of varying sizes, and irregularly arranged over the eminence. 

 Some of the openings of the gland are complicated, several smaller 

 openings debouching into a larger one ; and the area occupied by the 

 openings is not symmetrical. The general appearance of this patch is 

 well represented by Sir Everard Home's figure (I. c.) of that of the 

 Wombat. In this latter animal the general structure and form of the 

 P Z S 1881 stomach are also very like that here described ; but it is more globular, 

 p. 184. and therefore less cylindrical in shape, the cardiac and pyloric openings 

 being more approximated. 



The small intestine is villous, but otherwise smooth. It is not 

 sacculated, and when spread out, after being cut, is O5 inch across. At 

 its commencement it is dilated for about two inches ; there are no 

 Peyer's patches ; its length is 115 inches. The large intestine is very 

 peculiar : for the first 28J inches or so of its length, which forms the 

 ascending colon, it is very capacious, and internally longitudinally corru- 

 gated, like the caecum, which externally it much resembles, the rugse of 

 the interior appearing through the walls of the intestine, and giving it a 

 longitudinally striated appearance. These folds of the mucous membrane, 

 which might be called longitudinal valvulce conniventes, where best 

 developed are about -2 inch in depth ; they are arranged longitudinally 

 and are roughly parallel, though somewhat irregular in extent ; they are 



* Cf. Owen, Anat. Vert. iii. p. 422. 



t Home, Phil. Trans. 1808, p. 307, pi. ix. 



