430 ANATOMY OF VERTEBRATES. 



small curvature ; but leaves a well-marked semi-oval pouch to 

 the left : the pyloric end loses in calibre and gains in thickness of 

 its coats, the inner one projecting in wavy longitudinal folds : the 

 pylorus is a small constriction. In a male Galeopithecus Tem- 

 mlnchii, measuring from the apex of the nose to the root of the 

 tail 1 foot 4 inches, the small intestines were 4 feet 4 inches, the 

 caecum 1 inch, the large intestines 7 feet 7 inches. 1 



In the Aye-aye the oesophagus has a course of about a third of 

 an inch in the abdomen before terminating at the cardiac orifice. 

 This is situated, as in most Lemurs, nearer the pylorus than 

 the cardiac end. The stomach is of a full, subglobular form : the 

 pyloric end projects about half an inch below and to the right of 

 the pylorus. A narrow glistening tract of fine aponeurotic fibres 

 runs parallel with, and a little below, the short curvature between 

 the cardiac and pyloric orifices, and from this tract the fibres of 

 the outer muscular layer radiate. A narrow but well-marked 

 crescentic fold projects into the cavity from the lesser curvature, 

 four lines to the right of the cardia, subsiding about an inch down 

 the fore and hind walls : this fold appears even when the cavity 

 is fully distended, and it marks out internally the division be- 

 tween the cardiac and pyloric compartments. The pylorus is a 

 subcircular aperture, above which projects a short thick longitu- 

 dinal prominence. The duodenum, after its usual curve, crosses 

 the spine below the root of the mesentery, then turns up the left 

 side to commence the three principal folds of the small intestine, 

 on the border of the mesentery, by which, with the caecum, they 

 are freely suspended. A duplicature of peritoneum is continued 

 from the end of the duodenum, and from the lower part of the 

 beginning of the colon, to the first lumbar vertebra, attaching 

 them thereto. The colon, after a course of 3 or 4 inches, forms 

 a long narrow fold, 5 inches in length, then passes to the left, 

 above and behind the root of the mesentery, and descends along 

 the left lumbar and hypogastric regions to form the rectum. 



The small intestines are rather more than three times the length 

 of the body : the caecum is about one-fifth that length ; measuring 

 2 inches 7 lines: for the first inch it is 10 lines in diameter, but 

 suddenly contracts to a diameter of 3 lines ; terminating rather 

 obtusely, and resembling an appendix vermiformis ; but this is not 

 marked off by any valvular structure from the wider part of the 

 caecum, and it is continued, as in the human foetus, directly from 



1 • In several shot on the hills at Pinang, the stomach contained vegetable matter, 

 but no remains of insects. In confinement plantains constitute the favourite food.' 

 lxxxii". p. 8. 



