362 EEPTILIA. 



the vena portarum ; these veins enter near the attachment of the liver 

 to the upper part at the heart ; therefore there is more of that kind of 

 circulation [the portal venous] passing through the liver than in 

 quadrupeds. 



The pancreas lies in the hollow of the duodenum as that gut passes 

 down the right side. The spleen is an oval body, lying immediately on 

 the hollow curve of the duodenum behind the pancreas, and beginning 

 of the colon 1 . 



The heart is not attached at its apex to the pericardium, as in the 

 [Chelydra, turtle and crocodile]. The kidneys are two, one on each 

 side of the lower part of the cavity of the abdomen ; they are thick 

 bodies a little oblong, having three edges. Their external surface is 

 convoluted, very similar to the cerebellum of the Imman brain. The 

 ureters begin, like the biliary duct, by branches which converge and unite 

 with one another : they enter the bladder near the urethra. The bladder 

 is large and thin in its coats, as in most of this tribe ; adheres but very 

 little to the surrounding parts. The urethra is very short, not above 

 half an inch long ; and enters the rectum about 4 inches above the anus. 

 The two testicles were large ; although the animal was brought from 

 the "West Indies, and kept in the cold, even dying from cold and pro- 

 bably hunger ; they are oblong, lying somewhat across the abdomen 

 upon the upper side of the kidney 2 . The vas deferens passes from the 

 outer end of the testicle, running along the body of the testicle, gets 

 behind the bladder, and enters the urethra by a very small nipple. 

 From this part of the urethra passes a groove which joins the penis, and 

 is continued along it. The penis is very large for the size of the animal ; 

 it is a flattened body, and terminates in a broad end, pointed at the 

 extremity. It is composed of two bodies whose coats are thick, and 

 appear to be muscular. At the basis of each there is a spongy substance, 

 which becomes in some degree filled by injecting the arteries ; and from 

 this spongy substance passes along each body in its centre an artery 

 which seems to be enclosed in a cavity or canal 3 , and the artery sending 

 off small arteries as it passes along : I suspect the canal forms a sort of 

 corpus cavernosum. 



Between these two bodies passes the groove of the urethra, and when 

 it comes near to the end it terminates in a kind of broad opening, which 

 is irregular, and having two processes in it. This groove is so deep as 

 to hide a bougie in it 4 . 



i [Hunt, Prep- Phys. Series, No. 830.] 2 [lb. No. 2449.] 



3 [The ' peritoneal canal : ' see Hunt. Prep. Phys. Series, No. 2449.] 



4 [As in the Hunt. Prep. Phys. Series, No. 2452.] 



