150 ON THE ORGANS OF DIGESTION, &C. 
maceration, that nothing could be made of this part of the 
dissection; the blood was every where coagulated into 
small, white, rounded, friable masses. The sinus placed 
between the liver and diaphragm, and which is known to 
be so large in most aquatic mammalia and in diving birds, 
was of considerable size in the Ornithorynchus. I need 
scarcely mention that the foramen ovale of the heart was 
closed, and that the ductus arteriosus had disappeared 
The delicate tendinous-looking fibres, which pass from one 
paries of the right ventricle to the other, have not escaped 
the notice of M. Cuvier, After what I have said of the 
strictly mammiferous character of most of the organs de- 
scribed in this memoir, it may be hardly necessary to men- 
tion, that there existed no appearance whatever of an infe- 
rior larynx. 
The numerous lymphatic glands found in various parts 
of the body, shew a very completely organised system ; a 
string of lymphatic glands exist in the lower and anterior 
part of the neck ; they are about the size of small peas, 
and of a dark-red colour, occasioned probably by the spirit 
in which the animal had been preserved. Numerous lym- 
phatic glands are found likewise in the axilla, in the course 
of the jugular vein, and under the splenius muscle. The 
mesenteric glands were present, and sufficiently numerous. 
The accompanying drawing of the abdominal viscera, by 
Mr Watson, will enable the members of the Society to 
comprehend the general appearance and distribution of 
these organs. 
