The alligator and its alliesReese, A. M. (Albert Moore)
Science
The alligator and its allies
Reese, A. M. (Albert Moore)
Alligators
Figure 16_e_ is in the region of the liver and the Wolffian bodies;
it also shows the tip of the ventricular end of the heart. The liver
(_li_) is a large irregular mass, of a blotchy appearance under this
magnification, lying between the heart (_vn_) and the intestine (_i_).
Under greater magnification it is seen to be made up of indefinite
strings of cells; and its still wide opening into the intestine may be
seen in more posterior sections. The intestine (_i_), which in this
section might be called the stomach, is a fairly large cavity with
the usual thick entodermic walls; it is supported by a comparatively
narrow mesentery. The body cavity on the side next this mesentery has
the same thick lining that was noted in the region of the lungs. The
convolutions of the thick peritoneal lining may easily be mistaken in
places for parts of the enteron. The Wolffian bodies may be seen as
two groups of tubules (_wt_) in their usual location. The heart is
cut through the ventricle (_vn_), as has been said. The section being
at right angles to the long axes of the villi-like growths of the
myocardium, the depressions between these mesoblastic cords are seen as
a number of small irregular areas, each one lined with its endocardium.
The incompleteness of the body wall below the heart is apparently due
to an artificial break and not to a lack of fusion. The only point that
need be mentioned in connection with the structures of the dorsal part
of the section is that the distinctness of the myocœl (_myc_) on the
right side is somewhat exaggerated.
Figure 16_f_ is in the middle region of the embryo where both
splanchnopleure and somatopleure are unfused. Owing chiefly to the
unclosed condition of the midgut (_i_) and to the increase in length
of the mesentery (_ms_), the section is quite deep dorso-ventrally.
The continuation of the amnion (_a_) with the somatopleure is of course
here evident.
The most striking feature of the section is the marked projection of
the Wolffian ridges, though no local enlargements of these ridges
indicate the rudiments of the limbs. A large mass of Wolffian tubules
(_wt_) is seen projecting into the upper part of the body cavity on
each side; close to each of these masses is the posterior cardinal
vein (_pc_), and between them is the large aorta (_ao_). The other
structures are about as in the preceding section.
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