Observations on certain parts of the animal oeconomy. Inclusive of several papers from the Philosophical transactions, etc / by John Hunter ... With notes by Richard Owen.
- John Hunter
- Date:
- 1840
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Observations on certain parts of the animal oeconomy. Inclusive of several papers from the Philosophical transactions, etc / by John Hunter ... With notes by Richard Owen. Source: Wellcome Collection.
455/494 page 447
![pass, under the head and neck. The larynx falls back into the neck, which brings the extreme end of the first portion of the tongue within the upper lip, or behind the two teeth; then the whole of the second part, which consists of five parts, is bent down upon and under this first part, and the two last scales are also bent down over the whole, so that the true tongue is inclosed laterally by the two second horny scales, and over the whole lie the two first. The cesophagus, in all this tribe of insects, begins just at the root of the tongue, as in other animals,* covered anteriorly by a horny scale, which terminates the head, and which may be called the upper lip or the roof of the mouth. It passes down through the neck and thorax, and when got into the abdomen it immediately dilates into a fine transparent bag, which is the immediate receiver of whatever is swallowed. Irom this the food (whatever it be) is either carried further on into the stomach to be digested, or is re- gurgitated for other purposes. ‘To ascertain this in some degree in living bees, I caught them going out early in the morning, and found this bag quite empty: some time after I caught others return- ing home and found the bag quite full of honey, and some of it had got into the stomach. Now I suppose that which was in the craw was for the purpose of regurgitation, and as probably they had fasted during the night, part had gone on further for digestion. What- ever time the contents of this reservoir may be retained, we never find them altered, so as to give the idea of digestion having taken place: it is pure honey. From this bag the contents can be moved either way ; either downwards to the stomach, for the immediate use of the animal itself, or back again, to be thrown out as store for future aliment. The stomach arises from the lower end and a little on the right side of thisbag. It doesnot gradually contract into a stomach, nor is the outlet a passage directly out, but in the centre of a projection which enter some way into the reservoir, being rather an inverted pylorus, thickest at its most projecting part, with a very small opening in the centre, of a peculiar construction. This inward projecting part is easily seen through the coats of the reservoir, especially if full of honey. The stomach begins immediately on the outside of the reservoir, and the same part which projects into the reservoir is continued some way into the stomach, but appears to have no particular construction at this end, and therefore it is only fitted to prevent regurgitation into the re- * This observation appears to have been overlooked by entomologists, who continued to believe that the opening of the pharynx was situated below the pro- boscis in bees, until the researches of Savigny on the oral organs of these insects and of the Lepidoptera were made public. Cuvier, in his Analyse des Travaua de la Classe des Sciences Mathématiques et Physiques de I’ Institut, pendant Année 1814, observes, “ On avait cru voir que l’onverture da pharynx était située en dessous de cette trompe ou de cette lévre, tandis que dans les masticateurs ordi- naires elle l’est en dessous; mais c’ était une erreur; le pharynx est toujours sur la base de la trompe, et il y est meme garnis de parties intéressantes a reconnaitre, et dont M. Savigny donne une déscription détaillée.” p. 25.]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b33292292_0455.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
