350 REPTILIA. 



becomes homy at the points ; they stand very oblique with their points 

 down towards the stomach, and the oesophagus enters the stomach at 

 one end, not in the middle, as in the human 1 . The use of these bodies 

 would seem to be to prevent the regurgitation of solid bodies, as they 

 must make a most formidable barrier. Perhaps as the animal has not 

 teeth to chew live animals, Nature has taken this precaution ; yet I 

 should suspect some other use 2 . 



The stomach is a long cavity, and seems to be continued directly 

 from the oesophagus, lying for more than one half of the upper end in 

 the direction of the body, on the left side of the abdomen, a little bent, 

 having its curve to the left side : it makes a pretty quick turn upon 

 itself like a fold, and then terminates in the duodenum 3 . It is attached 

 to the liver by a mesogaster, or little epiploon, but not by a loose 

 membrane, as in the human body. The pylorus is not very valvular. 



The intestines 4 pass first to the right side, and then become in general 

 very loose, excepting at the upper end of the rectum on the left side. 

 There they are, as it were, bound down, and are one continued canal to 

 the common passage of faeces, eggs, and urine [cloaca], which is some 

 inches in length 5 ; but there is a contraction which divides what may be 

 called the small intestine from the colon. There are no valvulae 

 conniventes. There is no large epiploon. 



When I cut out the mesentery after the animal had been dead twenty- 

 four hours, and put it into cold water, I observed that it contracted 

 much, and that the arteries that ran straight before, ran now very 

 serpentine, but that the veins still were straight. The contraction of 

 the mesentery I imputed to muscular contraction by the stimulus of 

 cold water. 



The liver is a pretty long body, and lies at the upper or fore-part of 

 the abdomen across the body, adhering to the pericardium, <fec. The 

 right end is the largest, the liver becoming smaller towards the left 

 end, which lies upon the stomach. The vena cava passes through its 

 substance. The gall-bladder is a round body, much the shape of a 

 short pear, adhering to the liver about one-third of its length nearest 

 to the right side. Its apex comes close to the gut, and its duct may be 

 said to be entirely within the coats of the gut. The passage of the 

 duct through the gut is very oblique, therefore it does not terminate in 

 a projecting point, as in the human. The gall is green as in a bird's, 



1 [Hunt. Preps. Phys. Series, Nos. 460, 461.] 



2 [The structure is peculiar to the turtles which feed upon slimy sea-weeds, often 

 of great length.] 



3 [Hunt, Preps. Phys. Series, Nos. 514—516.] 



* [lb. Nos. 665—668.] 5 [lb. No. 713.] 



