Un the Bag protruded from the Mouth of the Dromedary. 295 
Beliind the uvula is found, as I have remarked above, the 
velum pendulum palati, v^hich, being very large, and touching 
the base of the tongue with its extremity or free margin, just be- 
fore the epiglottis, in the quiescent state, forces the air which 
escapes from the larynx to pass by the nasal canal. 
In the upper part of the back of the nose is a strait, formed 
by a semilunar reduplicature of the nasal membrane. This 
kind of partition is so placed, as to cover the larynx by its in- 
clination ; and, consequently, it forms with that part, and the su- 
perior wall of the nasal canal, a cut de sac, the use of which we 
shall see in the sequel. 
The excessive size of this uvula in the dromedary, and its 
attachment to the adhering or anterior margin of the velum pen^ 
didum palati, and not to the free or posterior margin, as in the 
other mammalia, might make some imagine that I have impro- 
perly termed it the Uvula, and that it might be a different or- 
gan. But, on examining its external and internal structure, its 
form and situation in dromedaries of different ages and sexes, the 
justness of my opinion is apparent, A thick whitish epidermis 
covers the mucous tunic, of a yellowish colour, in which are 
scattered numerous little glands. Under this tunic there is a 
cellular tissue, extremely loose, which serves to unite' one of the 
parietes of the organ with the other ; in this cellular tissue run 
large bloodvessels, and buried in it are numerous small glands, 
the excretory ducts of which, traversing the intervening sub- 
stance, open upon the surface of the uvula. Now, of these very 
same parts, is formed the membrane of the palate, of which the 
uvula, as every one knows, is but a continuation. The azygos 
muscle, in all the mammalia, is the principal mover of the uvu- 
la ; and the azygos muscle in the dromedary, 'which is thick and 
strong, distributes all its fibres into the interior of that organ 
which I call the uvula, and retracts and elevates it at the plea- 
sure of the animal. 
The uvula of the dromedary, then, is very similar in struc- 
ture to that of man and other mammalia, differing merely in size 
and situation. Every difficulty respecting its position vanishes, 
on examining the mouths of the young, and of the female drome- 
dary ; for, in them, where the uvula is much shorter, and less de- 
veloped, it is placed much more toward the free margin of the soft 
