450 Jackson^ s Anatomical Description 



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and at the base two and a quarter inches wide ; upper 

 surface covered with long, soft, slender papillae. ^ - 



The (Esophagus, which is generally described as capa- 

 ciouS; measured twenty three inches in length, and trans- 

 versely, when cut open, four inches. The mucous mem- 

 brane was thrown into longitudinal folds, and resembled 

 that of the mouth in structure, and in being covered with 

 innumerable, fine openings of follicles ; no epithelium ; 

 contained a considerable quantity of mucus. Muscular 

 coat very thick towards the stomach, but at the upper part 

 it was almost or quite wanting, the deficiency being prob- 

 ably supplied by a superficial muscle which was exter- 

 nal to and covered the upper half of the trachea ; the 

 fibres were generally, if not altogether, transverse ; the 

 connexion between this and the mucous coat was by 



41 



means of a very loose cellular tissue. According to 

 Capt. Porter, *' these turtles carry with them a constant 

 supply of water in a bag at the root of the neck ; and on 

 tasting that found in those we killed on board, it proved 

 perfectly fresh and sweet.'^ Mr. Reynolds, in his " Voy- 

 age of the Potomac," fully confirms this remark ; but 

 nothing of the kind was found in either of our speci- 

 mens. 



The Stomach, which is probably the bag referred to 

 by Capt. Porter, seems to be little more than an expan- 

 sion and thickening of the cesopbagus, the limits between 

 the two not being very readily seen; the pylorus, on the 

 contrary, is as strongly marked as I have ever seen it in 

 any of the mammalia, forming a prominent ridge which 

 projects into the duodenum, and into which all of the 

 tissues enter ; according to Cuvier (Lemons d^ Anat* 

 Comp. iii. p. 412,) the pylorus has no valve, but the 

 cardia is well marked. The length of the large curvature 



