44 



gradual manner shorter and thicker, disappearing at length within 

 a few lines of the verge of the cloaca. The duodenum forms a loose 

 fold about 3 inches in length : the remainder of the alimentary canal 

 is attached by a wide mesentery to the middle of the posterior 

 parietes of the abdomen. 



" The liver is composed of two lobes of unequal size, joined by 

 a small band : the margins of the lobes are more rounded than 

 usual. There is no gall-bladder; a small hepatic duct enters the 

 duodenum very near its commencement; a second duct of about 2 

 lines in width terminates near (he pancreatic duct at a distance of 

 4 inches from the pj/lorus. This dilated duct might serve in some 

 measure in place of a gall-bladder ; and a more complete receptacle 

 for retaining and increasing the active powers of the biliary secre- 

 tion may be unnecessary where the alimentary canal is so simple, 

 short, and capacious, as in the Toucan. It is, however, interesting 

 to observe that the Psittacidcc, to which the Toucan manifests its 

 affinity in other parts of its structure, exhibit a corresponding de- 

 ficiency both of cccca and gall-bladder. The Pigeons ixho which 

 are without a gall-bladder either want the cceca altogether, or 

 have them, as in the Insessorial birds, of very small size. This cor- 

 responding deficiency must, however, be considered rather as simple 

 coincidence than in the relation of cause and effect ; for in the 

 Vulture and Nightingale the gall-bladder exists without the caca, 

 while in the Cuckoo the cceca exist without the gall-bladder: the 

 similar examples in the other classes of Vertehrata are too well 

 known to require notice. 



" The kidneys are composed of three lobes, of which the middle 

 one is the smallest; their length is 1| inch; their surface is con- 

 voluted, though in a less marked degree than in Reptiles. Between 

 the anterior extremities of these glands was situated the ovary, of 

 a triangular shape, and apparently healthy in structure. The ova 

 were like minute granules^, and disposed in a convoluted manner. 

 The supra-renal glands were imbedded in the posterior part of the 

 ovary. The oviduct was as large as a crow-quill ; it commenced 

 by the usual fimbriated and wide aperture, was slightly tortuous at 

 the commencement, and then continued straight to the cloaca. 



" Among the varied forms of tongue which birds present, that of 

 the Toucan is one of the most remarkable. Its length from the aper- 

 ture of the glottis is 2| inches. The posterior ridge or backvvard- 

 projecting process^ is broad, and finely notched ; it is situated about 

 4 lines from the glottis. Anterior to this process the tongue is 

 soft and minutely papillose i'or the extent of 4 lines, and here, 

 most probably, the sense of taste resides : the rest of the organ 

 consists of a transparent horny lamina, flattened horizontally and 

 supported by the anterior process of the os hi/oides, which forms 

 a ridge along the middle of its inferior surface. At about 1^ inch 

 from the extremity of the horny lamina the margins become ob- 

 liquely notched, and these notches becoming deeper and closer to- 

 gether towards the extremity occasion the bristled ap[)eorance on 

 each side of the tongue. These bristles, Mr. Vigors observes, were 



