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Show 82 MESSRS. WATSON AND YOUNG ON THE [Jan. 14, corresponding organ in Proteles1. The soft palate is short, and presents no trace of uvula, such being the case likewise in Proteles. The oesophagus, as noted by Meckel2 in the specimen examined by him, is wide and dilatable. Its muscular walls are very thick, as is also the mucous coat, the latter being dense, tough, and thrown into longitudinal rugae. Stomach.-The stomach is short and rounded, and corresponds exactly as regards form with the description given by Daubenton3 and Murie4 of that organ in //. striata5 and H. brunnea respectively, and by Professor Flower6 in his observations on Proteles. When emptied of its contents, it measures 9 inches in length and 7 inches Fig. I. Stomach of Hycena crocuta,\a,\t\ open to show character of the mucous membrane. in greatest breadth. The oesophagus enters the small curvature close to the left extremity ; and in consequence the great end or fundus of the stomach is extremely shallow. The greater curvature presents a slight constriction close to the pyloric extemity, similar to that noticed by Prof. Flower in Proteles. The walls are thick and muscular, as in H. brunnea and Proteles. Dr. Murie recognized in the former a central tendon, from which the muscular fibres 1 Prof. Flower, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1869, p. 474. 2 Loc. cit. » Loc. cit. 4 Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vii. p. 503. 6 The stomach of H. striata is figured in the ' Erlauterungstafeln zur ver-gleichenden Anatomie ' of C. G. Cams. 6 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1869. |