The Digestive System 161 
the anterior region of the tongue during feeding is 
covered with a layer of rather loose, scaly cells, 
in most of which the nuclei may be seen. No 
difference in the 
amount of slough- 
ing off can be no- 
ticed as is the case 
with the epithe- 
lium of the roof of 
the mouth. 
Figure 37 rep- 
resents a section, 
under very low 
magnification, of 
the covering of the Fic. 37. Covering of the posterior re- 
base of the tongue. gion of the tongue of the hibernating ani- 
The areolar tissue, mal showing glands, under low magnifica- 
5 tion; a, areolar tissue; bv, blood-vessels; 
@, 18 about thesame g, glands; e, epithelium. 
as in the preceding 
section, except that it is more compact just under 
the epithelium than it is in its deeper regions. 
It seems also more vascular than in the preceding 
section. 
The epithelium, e, is of the stratified squamous va- 
riety, but consists of many more layers of cells than 
in the preceding section and is hence several times 
as thick. While its cells are flattened towards 
the surface, after the manner of this kind of epithe- 
lium, they do not form the definite horny layer de- 
scribed above. 
It 
