Newman. — Notes on the Phusioloi/tj and Anatom;/ of the Tuatara. 233 



The liver is a most curiously elaborated body. It consists of thin 

 right and left lobes, and a part at right angles to these. The right lobe is 

 thin with very irregular margins about one-and-a-half inches long. The 

 left lobe stretches for half-an-inch to the left, at right angles to the central 

 and spinal lobes. The left lobe is thin ; its free portion terminates by 

 shooting forwards a large portion. At the junction of the right and left 

 lobes is an extremely irregular lobular body projecting backwards to the 

 spine, and attached to the vertebral column by thin lateral ligaments. 

 That portion of the liver which is nearest to the pelvis is attached to the 

 pelvis by a long and strong ligament formed of peritoneum. 



The liver is of a speckled yellow and slate colour. Giinther says the 

 bridge between the two portions of the liver crosses the lower surface of the 

 posterior part of the stomach. His specimens were all males. In mine 

 the eggs pushed backwards the stomach and the liver forwards, thus widely 

 separating them. In my first specimen, in which the eggs were very large, 

 the liver was much smaller than the other, and flattened against the 

 abdominal ribs by the eggs. 



Gall-bladder would hold a small pea ; it contained a very small quantity 

 of glairy fluid and some coagulated yeUow material. Its walls are composed 

 of thick white dense tissue ; its dact is very short, and its walls thick. The 

 branches of the portal vein are easily seen. The pharyngeal cavity is very 

 large and very irregular in shape : its walls are thin. On the lower side 

 it is closely attached to the trachea, by the depression of which the 

 cavity is enlarged. The oesophagus is wide ; its coats thicken near the 

 opening into the stomach, and many rugose folds appear. Stomach small, 

 with thick walls, passes almost insensibly into duoderum and small intestine, 

 which are very short. The small intestine, with but two slight turns, runs 

 straight down the abdomen to the cloaca. Longitudinal folds of the walls 

 project into the cavity, beginning in the oesophagus, and continue through 

 the stomach nearly down to the pelvis. The ileum and jejunum were filled 

 with soft greenish material. The stomach is long and narrow, except where 

 the longitudinal folds occur its surface is smooth. 



Heart small, base very broad, apex very pointed. No sign externally 

 of division into ventricles. The cavity is remarkably small, situated quite 

 at the base and not extending near to the apex : there is but one cavity, 

 there being no dividing material. The tissue of the ventricles is paler and 

 smoother than that of the auricles, which is firmer, of a dark-red colour, 

 and appears more cellular when divided. The ventricle is slightly over- 

 lai^ped at the base by the auricles. The right is larger than the left auricle. 

 The heart is invested by a firm, closely-adhering pericardium. 



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