The Digestive System 183 
The epithelium is of the stratified columnar type. 
The superficial cells are very tall and narrow, 
with the nuclei generally at or near the bases, 
though an occasional nu- 
cleus may be seen near 
the free end of a cell. 
Below the tall columnar 
cells are four or five rows 
of nuclei which represent 
smaller, irregular cells, 
though the cell walls could 
not always be deter- 
mined between the closely 
packed nuclei. No goblet 
cells are to be seen at 
any place. 
The relative diameters 
of the three regions of Fic. 49. Anoutline of a trans- 
: . : section through the wall of the 
the small intestine in posterior region of the small in- 
the feeding condition are _ testine of the hibernating animal, 
under low magnification; letter- 
about the same as noted hue ae th Wiviee an, 
for the hibernating stage; 
that is, the anterior re- 
gion has the greatest diameter and the other 
regions are smaller and have about the same aver- 
age diameter. 
The most marked difference between the intes- 
tine during hibernation and feeding is in the relative 
thickness of the mucosa and muscular layers. As 
described for the hibernating stage, so in the feed- 
