352 ON THE ANATOMICAL PECULIARITIES 
from the chyme previous to the conveyance of the former 
into the lacteals. 
The lower, anal, or intestinal extremity of the duode- 
num, is situate in this specimen about 32 inches from its 
pyloric end ; and after tapering a little, it opens into the 
straight or tubular intestine by a valvular orifice, very si- 
milar to that of the pylorus, and which projects into the ca- 
vity of the latter in the same manner, like the nozzle of a 
stop-cock. 
This tube, which is the last part of the alimentary canal, 
may be described as a straight hollow cylinder, without 
curvature, of uniform diameter, and tapering toward the 
lower end, where it opens by an outlet or vent, distinct from 
that of the urinary organs, and finally terminating at the 
anus of the animal. In the specimen dissected by me, the 
length of this tube is twenty -four inches — not more than 
one-third of the length of the animal. Its diameter is 
about one inch ; and, when divided, the breadth of its pa- 
rietes varies from three and a half to four inches. Its pa- 
rietes are half an inch thick, strong, fleshy, and cut firmly 
under the knife. In the recent state, their colour was in- 
termediate between flesh-red and crimson-red, and perhaps 
a shade of auricula-purple ; but at present they have as- 
sumed a blanched appearance, and approach in colour to 
cream-yellow. 
The exterior covering is, as in the others, the peritoneum, 
which, at the posterior edge, is doubled off to form a me- 
sentery by which the tube is attached firmly, and so as to 
prevent free motion, to the vertebral column. Subjacent to 
this, we find a thick layer of animal matter, which in den- 
sity and firmness of texture, bore, in the recent state, a 
strong resemblance to the substance of the human uterus. 
At present it appears to be muscular, with a large propor- 
tion of firm, closely condensed cellular tissue. Within this 
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