242 RODENTIA. 



oesophagus. The duodenum is long and loose ; as it passes down the right 

 side it is attached to the first bend or fold of the colon, round or behind 

 which it passes, and then comes forward on the left side, forming the 

 jejunum. In all this last-mentioned sweep, the duodenum is attached 

 by a mesentery to the ascending colon upon its concave side on its 

 lower bend ; and on the left, it is attached to the descending colon by a 

 mesocolon on its convex or left edge. The csecum is a large and pretty 

 long gut, lying upon the fore-part of the loins just above the pelvis, and 

 is a little bent upon itself, having a narrow mesocsecum : its external ap- 

 pearance is that of a quilted petticoat. From the entrance of the ileum 

 the colon passes up on the right side before the descending part of the 

 duodenum ; it is just a continuation of the caecum, but soon becomes 

 narrow or small; it then makes a long and loose bend upon itself, 

 adhering to the descending duodenum, and then to itself by a narrow 

 mesocolon. This fold is about 8 inches long. From this bend it 

 inclines to pass to the left, but it soon makes another fold, somewhat 

 more than half the length of the former. From thence it passes down 

 the left side to the pelvis, becoming much stronger in its coats, having 

 a pretty broad mesocolon. Where it begins to make its first bend or 

 fold upon itself, the faeces are soft, but are beginning to be divided, 

 becoming harder and harder as they pass to the rectum 1 . 



The great epiploon is attached forwards to the stomach, pylorus, and 

 a little piece of the upper part of the duodenum, and on the right, 

 behind, and on the left, by the transverse pancreas, the spleen, and the 

 diaphragm. The little epiploon is attached to the upper part of the 

 duodenum, pylorus, small curve of the stomach, oesophagus, diaphragm 

 and liver, covering the mouth of that passage or hole ; that part which 

 is attached to the body of the liver makes an angle downwards on that 

 viscus, as it were making room for the Spigelian lobe behind. The 

 spleen is a long small body lying in the left of the epiploon. The body 

 of the liver is divided into four lobes, the left being the largest ; each 

 becoming smaller towards the right : the lobulus Spigelii is a continua- 

 tion of the third or fourth, and is attached to the hollow curve of the 

 stomach by a thin membrane : the umbilical vein is attached to the 

 second lobe from the left. The gall-bladder is attached to the same 

 lobe, projecting a little below the lower edge of the liver ; its duct enters 

 the duodenum about an inch from the pylorus. The attachment of the 

 liver to the diaphragm is by a thin membrane and vessels, not by any 

 contact of surface. 



1 [Home, Comp. Anat. vol. i. p. 446, who prefaces the abstract with the following : 

 — " The first of the chisel-teethed animals, whose intestines I shall describe, is the 

 marmotte."] 



