HALIAETUS LEUCOCEPHALUS. 273 



that viscus as high, as the spleen ; it was then attached to the left of 

 the root of the mesentery ; the posterior adhesion is to the head of the 

 kidney, thence down the back and loins, along the veins that lie on the 

 kidneys, to the swelling of the rectum, along the side of which it 

 passes to the anterior adhesion. On the right side the superior adhe- 

 sion was, anteriorly, attached to the gall-bladder ; and then along the 

 right of the mesentery to the back, but did not go so high as on the 

 left. Between these two membranes are contained the intestines and 

 the spleen. The anterior adhesions on each side make something like 

 the mediastinum ; in which there was a great deal of fat. 



The duodenum is long, and it is doubled upon itself besides the [ordi- 

 nary] fold. The small intestines are strung on the edge of the mesen- 

 tery in a pretty long scolloped manner, which made something of the 

 appearance of short folds, some longer and closer than others. The 

 ileum passes immediately to the rectum, or rather the common mesen- 

 tery is continued directly into the mesorectum. The caeca are very 

 short. The rectum is short ; the vesicula recti [bursa Fabricii] is pretty 

 large. 



The liver is composed of two lobes of equal size, each of which is 

 enclosed in a loose distinct capsule ; the falciform ligament divides the 

 lobes. The ductus hepaticus anastomoses with the ductus cystico- 

 hepaticus ; for, by blowing into the hepatic towards the liver, the gall- 

 bladder is inflated. The ducts of the liver enter at the last turn of the 

 duodenum. 



The pancreases are two, very short, confined to between the first and 

 last turns of the duodenum ; there is but one- duct which enters the 

 last part of the duodenum 1 . 



The Bald Eagle [The American Sea-eagle, Haliaetus leucoce- 

 phalus, Sav.], or what is called "The Eagle of the Sun." 



It is about the size of a turkey, measuring about 2 feet 8 inches 

 from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, and about 6 feet from 

 the tip of one wing to that of the other. It is in general of a fuli- 

 ginous colour, and round the exposed part of each feather it is rather 

 of a fighter brown, which is shaded into the other : the flight-feathers 

 are darker, and have hardly any of the brown border. From the 

 exposed parts of the feathers to their roots, they become lighter and 

 lighter, first of a duskish grey, then of a dirty light blue, and after- 

 wards almost white at their roots. The feathers of the head and upper 



1 [The biliary and pancreatic orifices, in one I dissected, were 18 inches from 

 the pylorus, in consequence of the extent of the duodenal folds.] 

 VOL. II. T 



