180 CLASS REPTILIA. 



observable in the flat-headed geckos, in some skinks, and in 

 the iguana. In the tupinambis this gland appears to be 

 replaced by two others, which are elongated, granular, and 

 situated under the skin along the external face of the 

 branches of the lower jaw, and the humour of which is 

 poured to the external side of the teeth in the same jaw. On 

 that side they are immediately covered by the palatine 

 membrane. 



In the saurians, in general, the tongue is capable of con- 

 siderable elongation, and the mechanism which produces this 

 movement intimately allied to the act of deglutition, is itself 

 inseparable from that of the different pieces which compose 

 the hyoid apparatus. 



In the majority of the saurians the epiglottis is wanting, 

 as is likewise the veil or covering of the palate. Their 

 pharynx is but little wider than the oesophagus, and is 

 furnished with no muscle for the purpose of moving it, or 

 causing it to change form. The mucous membrane which 

 covers it exhibits numerous longitudinal folds. In the 

 oesophagus there is nothing very remarkable, but that its 

 diameter is very great, in comparison to the stomach, and 

 that it appears very dilatable. The stomach is generally 

 of an oval and very elongated form, and its parietes are 

 usually slender and transparent, like those of the intestinal 

 canal. Its muscular membrane seems to have but little 

 sensibility, at least in a portion of its extent. 



Proportionally to the body, the intestinal canal of the 

 saurians is very short. This is evidently connected with the 

 carnivorous regimen of these reptiles. Its form and dimen- 

 sions, however, vary considerably according to the species. 



The growth of the saurians is rather slow, because these 

 animals live a long time, and the lethargy to which they 

 are subject during the winter seems to suspend their exist- 

 ence. Certain species, such as the iguanas, and above all. 



