The intestinal canal in REPTILES is often of consider able length. Thus, in the hawksbill turtle (testudo ca retta) it is five times as long as the body. In what are analogous to the small intestines the villi are very nume rous, and consist of thin, longitudinal processes lying close to each other. 'What is the large intestines in other animals is, in the turtle tribe, the smallest portion of the canal. The whole central surface of the intes tines in this class is abundantly supplied with mucus.
The intestines of SERPENTS are very short, and some times their length does not equal that of the body. The commencement of the several portions of the intestinal canal, is, in these animals, marked by longitudinal folds of the mucous membrane. The secretion of mucus in the intestines of serpents is also very abundant. The rectum of these animals and of reptiles, like that of birds, terminates in a cloaca.
In most of the MoLLuscit there is a short intestinal canal that makes several turns in its course: It is re markable that, in the acephalous mollusca, this tube pas ses through the heart.
In the CRUSTACEA, the intestinal tube is short and straight, and of equal diameter throughout. It is not, as in the higher classes of animals, connected by a me sentery.
The intestines of INSECTS vary considerably in the different tribes and species. In general, those in sects which feed on vegetables, have this canal longer and more complicated than those which feed on animal food. There is a remarkable distinction in this respect, even between the larva and the perfect insect. In the voracious larvae of beetles and butterflies, the intestines are ten times as large as in the perfect insect of the same tribes. The whole alimentary canal of the locust is very complicated, for besides a membranous stomach and a gizzard, these insects have several meal proces ses and a pretty long intestinal tube.
Among the proper Wohms, those called intestinal are most remarkable for the appearance of their intestines. The ascarides have a simple canal running from one ex tremity of the body to the other, while in the teenier or tape worms, there is a small canal running on each side of the body, and these tubes are joined by transverse pro ductions passing through each joint. In the common earth-worm, and in the leech, the intestinal canal is di vided into numerous partitions.