34 A COURSE ON ZOOLOGY. 



under the angle of the lower jaw ; the sublingual are 

 under the tongue. Special canals or ducts lead the saliva 

 secreted by these glands into different parts of the mouth. 

 The pharynx is a sort of funnel just back of the mouth. 

 Into it open the nasal chambers, called fossae, from above ; 

 the air-passages and oesophagus below, and on the sides 

 narrow canals which connect with the middle ear. 



The veil of the palate forms an imperfect curtain be- 

 tween the mouth and the palate, and its central prolon- 

 gation, the uvula, is raised during the act of swallowing. 

 Behind the veil of the palate, on each side, are the tonsils, 

 small glands that secrete a somewhat viscous liquid. 



The oesophagus is a cylindrical membranous tube 

 which opens from the back of the pharynx, passes down 

 behind the windpipe, traverses the thorax, and, entering 

 the abdominal cavity, ends in the stomach. 



The stomach, as well as all the remaining parts of the 

 digestive apparatus, is contained in the abdomen, a capa- 



cious cavity separated 

 from the chest by a flat 

 muscle, called the dia- 

 phragm. The stomach 

 occupies the left upper 

 portion of the abdomen, 

 and extends towards 

 the right, somewhat be- 

 yond the point com- 

 monly called the pit of 

 the stomach. It is a 



SECTION OP THE STOMACH. a, ducts of liver; sort of pocket, shaped 



b, pylorus; c, bile-duct; d, pancreatic Hk e a pear, and having 

 duct ; e, cardiac orifice. 



a large and a smaller 

 curvature and two orifices. By its upper orifice, called 



