72 CARNIVOEA. 



The oesophagus [at the upper part of the chest] lies in the division of 

 the thorax made hy it, hy the trachea, the vessels of the heart, &c. : 

 below, it lies in the douhling of the left posterior mediastinum, as the 

 colon does in the peritoneum. 



The stomach is much shorter than the human, and is bent near the 

 middle like a lion's ; so that the great and small curves are angular. 

 The great end is not so projecting as in the human ; the small curve, 

 instead of being semicircular, is oblong. 



The epiploon at the great end of the stomach is attached to the pos- 

 terior surface of that viscus, and is continued into the little epiploon 

 at the oesophagus. The vessels pass to the stomach much as in the 

 lion, <fec, but not quite so far on the anterior and posterior surfaces. 



The duodenum is as in other animals : where it passes across the 

 spine it is pretty closely connected to the root of the mesentery, and by 

 a thin and broad membrane to the meso-rectum. The jejunum, ileum, 

 colon, and rectum form one continued canal ; but, near the end of what 

 we may call ileum, [the intestine] takes the usual turn, as the colon does, 

 and from thence it becomes stronger and a little larger to the rectum : 

 near the rectum there are a vast number of small glands that appear 

 through the peritoneum. In another otter they were not to be found. 

 The [intestinal canal] is about three times and one-fourth the length of 

 the animal l . There are no valvulae conniventes. The mesenteric glands 

 lie at the root of the mesenteiy. The peritoneum is very thin. 



The muscular coat of the rectum, at its posterior side, is inserted into 

 the tail, passing between the two that arise to enclose the anus as they 

 pass to the urethra ; but these two last-named are lost in the side of the 

 perineum, blended with the sphinctores ani et vaginae. 



At the verge of the anus there are two very large bags filled with a 

 yellowish thin matter, covered by the sphincter ani ; their openings are 

 at the verge of the anus, so that when squeezed, the contents come out- 

 wards ; and besides, .there is a white matter as thiek as common paint, 

 and very rancid to the smell. At the beginning of the duct leading from 

 this bag, is a glandular substance surrounding it with a number of 

 folliculi on it 2 . 



The liver is divided into four lobes, besides the lobulus Spigelii : this 

 lies half behind the little epiploon, and half before, as in a squirrel ; and 

 it is rather longer than common for an animal of this size. The gall- 

 bladder is situated between the two middle lobes, and is something un- 

 common in its position ; for the fundus or most distant part from the 

 ducts is highest, placed between the two lobes, so that it makes no curve 



1 [Home, Coinp. Anat, i. p. 431.] - [Hunt, Prep. No. 2145.] 



