1898.] OF THE CTTlflflN-G BASSAEISC. 131 



The spleen measured 2| inches in length ; it was rather broader 

 at one end than at the other, but had no extra lobe or even indi- 

 cations of such. 



The pancreas is rather peculiar, but apparently not unlike that of 

 Helictis, in which the late Prof. Garrod described ^ it as " seven 

 inches in length, its left terminal two inches being in relation with 

 the narrow spleen." In Bassariscus this gland is L-sbaped, the 

 meeting-point of the two limbs, situated at the angle of the 

 duodenum, being much wider than either of them is in its course. 

 The upper limb, that which runs parallel with the commencement 

 of the duodenum, is barely three inches in length ; the limb 

 which passes outwards in near relation to the spleen is five inches 

 in length. 



The intestine, from the duodenum to the anus, is as nearly as 

 possible five feet in length. There is no csecum, but the junction 

 between the small and lai'ge intestines seems to be marked (as it is, 

 for example, in Gnjptoprocta ") by an unusually long Peyer's patch. 

 The Peyer's patches in the animal were particularly well mai'ked, 

 owing to their deep pigmentation. This patch, to which I now 

 refer, was narrow but no less than three inches in length. After 

 it the internal surface of the intestine was rugose. This of course 

 supports the view that the long Peyer's patch lies on the extremity 

 of the small intestine. In front of this patch were nine or ten 

 others, none of which, however, measured more than half an inch 

 in length. 



The liver of Bassariscus is not remarkable in any special way. 

 The relative size of its component lobes may be thus expressed ;- — ■ 



L.L. 2>L.C. 2|<E.C. 2|>E.L. = C2>Sp. 



The right central lobe, which is the largest, is on the abdominal 

 aspect completely divided into two by the cystic notch ; on the 

 dorsal surface the notch only extends as far as the fundus of the 

 gall-bladder. The right half of the right central lobe is very 

 slightly furrowed in a longitudinal direction. The caudate lobe is 

 bifid at its extremity and has a small nearly free lobe attached to 

 its diaphragmatic surface. The spigelian lobe is notched faintly at 

 the extremity and also at both sides a little way from the extremity. 

 The only liver which I have among the stores in my department 

 with which to compare the liver of Bassariscus is that of JElurus 

 fulgens, which has been described and figured by Elower ^ The 

 chief difierences which Bassariscus shows are : (1) the much greater 

 relative size of right central ; (2) the freedom of the right 

 lateral and caudate lobes (they are firmly attached by their apposed 

 surfaces in ^lurus) ; (3) the much smaller size of the spigelian 

 lobe. 



^ " Notes on the Anatomy of Helictis subaurantiacus," P. Z. S. 1879, p. 306. 



2 F. E. Beddard, " On the Visceral and Muscular Anatomy of Cruptoproota " 

 P. Z. S. 1S95, pp. 431, 432. ^i r -. 



3 " On the Anatomy oi Mur us fulgens," P. Z. S. 1870, p. 763. 



