ALIMENTARY CANAL OF REPTILES. 



443 



CrococUHa again offer the chief exception to Reptiles in general ; 

 in these the mesogastcr, fig. 301, h, is directly and broadly con- 

 tinued into the mesentery, as this is into a mesocolon ; they 

 are nominal distinctions of the same simple duplicature of the 

 peritoneal membrane. In the Crocodile the intestine, after 



302 



Viscera of the Female Tortoise (Emys ettropcea) seen from Ijebina ; tlic Imigs liavc Ijeen removed. 



forming the duodenal loops, passes back to cross the spine to the 

 left, in close connection thereto : and, descending, again becomes 

 loose, and defines a 'root ' or beginning of a distinct 'mesentery' ; 

 in no Reptile is there a separate mesocolon. Thus, it is only 

 in Crocodilia that a ' duodenal ' portion of the intestine can be 



