396 DISSECTION OF THE PIGEON 



will be postponed until the liver and pancreas are 

 described. 



5. The small intestine is a much convoluted tube, of nearly 



uniform diameter, and about two feet and a half in 

 length. 



6. The rectum, or terminal portion of the intestine, is 



about an inch and a half long. Its commencement 

 is marked by a pair of small caecal processes, the 

 rectal diverticula. Posteriorly, the rectum opens 

 into the cloaca, the examination of which will be 

 deferred until the kidneys have been described. 



D. The liver. 



The liver is divided into a larger right, and a smaller 

 left lobe, the surfaces of which are hollowed and grooved to 

 receive the heart, duodenum, and gizzard. 



The bile-ducts are two in number, and open into the 

 duodenum. 



1. The left bile-duct is a wide tube, about an inch long, 



which, emerging from the notch between the right 

 and left lobes of the liver, runs backwards to open 

 into the proximal limb of the duodenum, about half 

 an inch beyond the gizzard. 



2. The right bile-duct is longer and narrower. It leaves 



the liver near the dorsal margin of the right lobe, 

 and runs back to open into the distal limb of the 

 duodenum, about the junction of its middle and 

 distal thirds. 



E. The Pancreas. 



The pancreas is a compact pinkish gland lying in the loop 

 of the duodenum, along nearly the whole of its length, and 

 grooved by it. 



The pancreatic ducts are three in number, and all open 

 into the distal limb of the duodenum. 



The first two ducts leave the right border of the gland 

 about the middle of its length, and run forwards, parallel to 



