INTROBUCTION. XXIU 



the pyloric extremity is placed near tlie cesopliagus; immediately 

 before terminating at the well-marked pylorus it forms a sacculated 

 expansion, the rounded csecal extremity of which lies externally 

 across its inferior surface. In the closely allied genera Cynopterus 

 and Cynomjcteris the form of the stomach is very similar to that of 

 Pteropus, the chief difference being that the cardiac portion is not di- 

 stinctly separated by a notch externally, and the pyloric portion is 

 not expanded near its termination at the pylorus. In CepJuilotes the 

 stomach is somewhat like PteropvLS ; the cardiac division is similarly 

 separated, but the pyloric is very long and folded twice upon itself, 

 and at its extremity near the pylorus is not expanded. In Epomo- 

 phorus (the species of which live on soft fruit) and in Harpyia the 

 form of the stomach is much simpler, the pyloric portion is not 

 nearly so long nor folded upon itself, as in Pteropus, and the cardiac 

 division is marked externally by a constriction on its left side. In 

 the long-tongued Maeroglossi the stomach varies considerably in 

 form. In Eonycteris the pyloric portion is much shorter and less 

 folded upon itself than in Pteropus, and on the whole resembles that 

 of Cynonycteris. In Notopteris it is quite differently shaped, and, 

 indeed, presents a form apparently unique. It is divisible exter- 

 nally into three portions — a cardiac, a central, and a pyloric. The 

 central portion, which extends backwards behind the other two, is 

 almost globular in form and communicates directly in front with the 

 oesophagus, on the left with the cardiac sac, and on the right with 

 the pyloric portion, of which the proximal half lies close to the right 

 side of the oesophagus, almost level with the cardiac portion, and 

 becoming bent on itself to the right terminates in the pylorus, im- 

 mediately beyond which the gall-duct enters the duodenum. 



In the Microchiroptera (with the exception of the group Desmo- 

 dontes) the stomach is quite simple, and varies very slightly in the 

 different families. In many it seems like a simple expansion on one 

 side of the oesophagus, so closely together are the oesophageal and 

 pyloric orifices placed. In the frugivorous species of Artiheus it 

 somewhat approaches in structure some of the simpler forms met with 

 in Megachiroptera, as in Harpyia, and is similarly lined with deeply 

 reticulated mucous membrane; but the difference is still very 

 striking. The very aberrant form of stomach in the sanguivorous 

 Desmodontes is described at p. 548. 



The intestinal canal varies considerably in length, but is generally 

 three or four times the length of the head and body. It is charac- 

 terised by remarkable uniformity in calibre from the pylorus to the 



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