158 The Alligator and Its Allies 
.0es, 
be kept cold, alligators may re- 
fuse food for five or sixth months. 
Whether, during the winter months, 
in their native haunts, they entirely 
cease feeding, the writer has had 
no opportunity to observe, though 
it is popularly reported that such 
is the case. 
The first alligator from which 
tissues were taken was about a year 
and a half old, and 
measured eighteen 
inches in length. It 
was killed in March 
after a fast of several 
‘ss months, probably four 
or five, possibly more, 
though it was not in 
the writer’s possession 
for so long a time. 
Although carefully 
Fig. 35. A diagrammatic outline of the 
ps4 digestive tract of the alligator from the be- 
ginning of the cesophagus to the cloaca, to 
show the planes of the sections that were 
studied. a.oes., anterior cesophagus; a.r., 
anterior rectum; a.s.7., anterior small intes- 
tine; c.st., cardiac stomach; f.st., fundic stom- 
ach; m.s.i., middle small intestine; p.oes., 
posterior cesophagus; p.7., posterior rectum 
or cloaca; p.s.i., posterior small intestine; 
p.st., pyloric stomach, 
an 
Fic. 35. OUTLINE OF 
DIGESTIVE TRACT 
