352 MR. p. cnALitERs MiTcnELT, OX THE [May 7, 



of the intestine disposed in a fashion which, from the examination of 

 a number of birds, I have found to be most instructive. The intes- 

 tines \^ere removed bodily from the abdominal cavity after division 

 of the oesophagus and of the rectum in front of the cloaca. They 

 were then placed on the table with the ventral side up\vards, and 

 with as little disturbance as possible the overlying folds were turned 

 outwards. The duodeum (d) is a short loop enclosing the pancreas 

 in the usual fashion. Then follows a very long small intestine 

 (Z-Z) suspended at the circumference of a nearly circidar expansion 

 of the original straight mesentery iiinning from the liver to the 

 rectum. This loop of the intestine corresponds in position and 

 arrangement to the anterior of the two enormous loops which 

 compose the giit behind the duodenum in the Ostrich. It also 

 corresponds to the five or six more specialized loops found in the 

 intestine of Anatidfe, but remains in what appears to be a more 

 primitive condition. At the end of the first large loop the 

 intestine passes into the large intestine and the cseca are attached 

 at the point of junction. The cseca in my specimen were different 

 from those of the C. clmvaria described by Beddard (3), in that 

 they were nearly equal in size and much more sacculated than in 

 the figure given by Beddard. The right caecum was closely bound 

 to the distal part of the great loop of the intestine running forwards 

 along it. The left caecum was attached to the descending loop of 

 the duodenum, and in the figure is represented as tmmed forwards 

 along with that. 



The rectum, as in C. derbiana and Palamedea, was very long and 

 wide, although not nearly so long relatively as in the Ostrich. I 

 do not give the measurements of the parts of the intestine, as from 

 my own observations, and still more from the extended observa- 

 tions of Garrod, Beddard, and others, it seems that the amount of 

 individual variation makes comparisons of little value. 



Attached to the free or primitive ventral side of the large loop 

 of the intestine, and nearly in the middle of its length, was a small 

 csecum (;(/), the remains of the original yolk-duct. From the point 

 of this a short ventral mesentery ^'^■ith a thicliened edge ran forwards 

 towards the liver. In the Ostrich the remains of the yolk-sac lie in 

 the same relative position, and I have found in that the remnant of 

 a similar ventral mesentery. 



A large number of radial veins leave the large loop of the intes- 

 tine and converge upon an elongated, much expanded, large tribu- 

 tary of the portal vein. This runs inwards in the middle of the 

 circular mesentery opposite the yolk-sac diverticulum. It is joined 

 by a branch from the right csecum and from the distal part of the 

 loop ; next, by one from the left csecum, next by one from the 

 duodenum. 



Anotlier large vessel from the large intestine joins these vessels, 

 and from their meeting-point the large mesenteric vein joins with 

 a small splenic vein and runs forwards as the portal vein. I may 

 mention that the disposition of these vessels is similar in the 

 Ostrich, 



