Cloaca

“ This network of cellars still has its population of rodents, pullulating more than ever; from time to time a rat, an old veteran, ventures his head at the window of the drain and examines the Parisians: but even these vermin are growing tame, as they are satisfied with their subterranean palace. The cloaca no longer retains its primitive ferocity, and the rain which sullied the sewer of olden times, washes that of the present day. ”

“ As the result of these observations he is able to declare that nest-cleaning follows each feeding with clock-like regularity. “The excreta of the young,” he writes, “leave the cloaca in the form of white opaque or transparent mucous sacs. The sac is probably secreted at the lower end of the alimentary canal, and is sufficiently consistent to admit of being picked up without soiling bill or fingers. The parent birds often leave the nest hurriedly bearing one of these small white packages in bill, an action full of significance to every member of the family. ”

“ Intestine 4 inches; two minute cæca 3⁄4 of an inch from cloaca.
Mature consideration convinces me that this species is quite distinct from the H. fulva of Vieillot though closely allied to it. The present may be at once recognised by the conspicuous mottling of its shoulders and back with white and blue black, a character which, as far as I have examined, is invariable. The form of its nest also differs greatly from the bottle-like structures of the interesting bird of the Rocky Mountains. ”

“ Plumage black, with rich purple reflections, most conspicuous on the wing-quills; the clothing feathers have the disk of an intense black, with a lighter border, brilliantly iridescent; the borders on the neck are larger in proportion, and are sometimes brassy.
Intestine 12 inches; two cæca, 11⁄2 inch long, 2 inches from the cloaca.
The young have not the scaly character of the plumage, nor any ridge upon the beak.
In all open places, but particularly savannas and pastures which are occupied by cattle or horses, these birds are seen all day long, and all the year round. ”

“ Cuculus canorus and trogons, is often lined with the broken-off hairs of these caterpillars, which, penetrating the cuticle, assume a regular spiral arrangement, due to the rotatory motion of the muscles of the gizzard.
8. Cloaca and Genital Organs.
The cloaca is divided by transverse circular folds, which project from its inner walls, into three successive chambers. The innermost, the coprodaeum, is an oval dilatation of the end of the rectum, and attains its greatest size in those birds whose faeces are very fluid; it serves entirely as the temporary receptacle of the faeces and the urine. ”

“ These glands lie outside of the pelvis between the side walls of the cloaca and a large muscle that surrounds this part of the body. They have an oval form and open usually from their anterior end, sometimes just caudad to this, by a short, fairly wide, slit-like opening which has an anteroposterior direction. The walls of the glands are made up of three closely associated layers of connective tissue, the inner one being thrown into folds. Since these layers contain no muscle fibers the secretion of the gland is probably squeezed out by contraction of the circular muscles of the cloaca. ”

“ Similarly, on the invertebrate side, all those forms which resembled Limulus must have possessed a very short region between the branchial and cloacal parts of the body. The original cloacal part of the vertebrate gut may well have been the original cloaca of the arthropod, into which its intestine emptied itself, especially when we see the tendency of the scorpion group of animals to form an accessory cloacal pouch known as the stercoral pouch or pocket. ”

“ Body brownish cinereous, varied with greenish yellow; a triple series of fuscous spots; dorsal series consisting of about forty-four large transversely oblong oval spots, each widely emarginate before and behind, and, excepting the posterior ones, edged with greenish-white, the ten or twelve anterior ones, crowded and confluent, those of the thicker part of the body separate, those near the cloaca and upon the tail united with the spots of the lateral series, and forming bands ”

“ There are three papillæ, one large and two small, on each side of the cloaca and one large and two post-anal small papillæ. Two curved spicules, 0·166 and 0·08 mm. respectively.
The adult female is of uncertain length, but much longer than the male, probably about 10 to 12 cm. The head is rounded and truncated; it measures 0·065 mm. in diameter. The tail is curved. The vulva opens 0·55 mm. from the head. The hand-like cuticular thickenings are well marked. Eggs ovoid with a prolongation at each pole “like an orange wrapped in tissue paper.” The larva measures about 300 μ by 7 μ to 8 μ ”

“ This sucking mouth is an extra-uterine production, and is of course an adaptation to the particular needs of the young, just as are other larval organs, such as the chin-suckers of the tadpole, or the regular ciliated bands of the larvae of various marine invertebrate organisms.
There are a number of other features which distinguish the Marsupials from other mammals.
The cloaca of the Marsupials is somewhat reduced, but is still recognisable. Its margins in Tarsipes are even raised into a wall, which projects from the body. ”

“ It remains to decide upon the material employed. From its horny appearance there is reason to believe that the little barrel of the Taxicorn Clythra and the scales of the Four-spotted Clythra are the products of a special secretion; and, now that it is too late, I much regret that I neglected to look for the apparatus yielding this secretion in the neighbourhood of the cloaca. As for the thing so prettily wrought by the Long-legged Clythra and the Cryptocephali, let us admit without false shame that it is made of fæcal matter. ”

“ The pairing time is the end of June, or later in cold seasons. The male gets hold of the female by forming a noose with its tail round her; it lies underneath, the cloacae being pressed together so that the spermatozoa can be taken in directly. The larvae have large yellow-green spots on the back and sides, and a bright red ventral tail-fin; when metamorphosed the greenish spots become more confluent on the back, producing a broad spinal band. Larvae which live in deep water are dark, while those in sunny places are light-coloured and spotted with yellow. ”

“ This is mainly due to the greater development of an unpaired, median portion, analogous to the mammalian corpus spongiosum, which is much less prominent in the Ratitae; the muscles of this type are derived solely from the anal sphincter. In other Carinatae, e.g. tinamous and storks, the penis is very much smaller and simpler, with every appearance of a degenerated organ. In the great majority of birds it has disappeared completely and the primitive way of everting the cloaca is resorted to. ”

“ For cloaks they have five or six yards of frize drawn round the neck, the body, and over the head, and they never quit this mantle, either in sleeping, working, or eating. The generality of them have no shirts, and about as many lice as hairs on their heads, which they kill before each other without any ceremony. ”

“ Uncle Paul continued, “is much like the bird we have been discussing, only it is far smaller, being very little larger than a crow, while the other is the size of a goose. It is the commonest of all the nocturnal birds of prey in these regions. In the night hours throughout the summer it keeps repeating, in melancholy accents, its long-drawn and doleful cry of cloo-cloo, which can be heard a long way off. Just as it takes flight it gives a sort of bitter sigh, made no doubt by the air expelled from its lungs by the effort of the wings at the moment of flying off. ”

“ You may see a thousand women with cloaks on, but how many will be really wearing them! As one criticised the cloaks and their wearers in the Enclosure at Aswood one couldn't help murmuring with a small sigh, "Who is sufficient for these things!" People who have the cloak fastened on in just any way, my dear, are simply begging the question; in its true inwardness, in its loftiest development, the cloak should be a separate creation, kept in its place only by the grace and knack of its wearer. ”

“ Cecropia cocoons bewilder a beginner by their difference in shape. You cannot determine the sex of the moth by the size of the cocoon. In the case of the twins, the cocoon of the female was the larger; but I have known male and female alike to emerge from large or small. You are fairly sure of selecting a pair if you depend upon weight. The females are heavier than the males, because they emerge with quantities of eggs ready to deposit as soon as they have mated. ”

“ The people seem to be very lazy, at least the men, and may be frequently observed to plow in their cloaks. It is the fashion for them to wear cloaks when they go abroad, but especially on Sundays. They lay out most they are worth in cloaths, and a fellow that hath scarce ten groats besides to help himself with, you shall see come out of his smoaky cottage clad like a gentleman. ”

“ The formation of the cocoon in Planaria lactea is probably begun in the "uterus," but is undoubtedly completed in the genital atrium. In P. polychroa, however, the stalked cocoon is formed wholly in the "uterus." Thus we find two types of cocoons in different species of the genus Planaria associated with two types of reproductive organs (Hallez) :—
I. Planariae in which the two oviducts open separately into the posterior part of the duct of the uterus. A musculo-glandular organ is absent. The cocoons are spherical and stalked. ”

“ It does not need to, for now it is a dainty little nun, with a long, tan-colored cloak. Its cloak, of course, is its wings folded down about its body. Like the fairy May flies it has no mouth and eats nothing in the adult form. ”

“ Around the great drawing-room in graceful figures the gorgeous little procession moved. How bright their colors appeared, the light shimmering upon a pink cloak beside a blue one, a green cloak walking with a yellow one, a scarlet one with a white, a buff one with bright cherry-hued domino!
But the greatest excitement came when, after the march, the colored cloaks were cast aside, and the laughing playmates were revealed. ”

“ I watched the very first thread of silk drawn between the larva and the outside world, and in an incredibly short time the cocoon was outlined in a tissue-thin, transparent aura, within which the tenant could be seen skilfully weaving its own shroud.
When first brought from the nest, the larvæ lay quite straight and still; but almost at once they bent far over in the spinning position. Then some officious worker would come along, and the unfortunate larva would be snatched up, carried off, and jammed down in some neighboring empty space, like a bolt of cloth rearranged upon a shelf. ”

“ The burly brown cocoon, which is notable for its curious tunnel of exit, like an eel-pot, is always found at the base of an old almond-tree, adhering to the bark. The foliage of the same tree nourishes the caterpillar.
On the morning of the 6th of May a female emerged from her cocoon in my presence on my laboratory table. I cloistered her immediately, all damp with the moisture of metamorphosis, in a cover of wire gauze. I had no particular intentions regarding her; I imprisoned her from mere habit; the habit of an observer always on the alert for what may happen. ”

“ A cloak will partake of the very soul and conscience of its owner; become draggle-tailed, flaunting, effeminate, masterful, pompous, or dignified. Trousers, I think, of all the garments of men, fail most to show the state of his soul; they merely proclaim the qualities of his purse. Cloaks give most the true man, and after that there is much in the cock of a hat and the conduct of a cane. ”

“ The reader will be doubtless astonished to see, in a country so hot as Chili, Leon Delbès and Crevel enveloped, as we have just said, in heavy cloaks. In Chili, Peru, and generally in all the ex-Spanish colonies, the cloak is constantly in use, and almost indispensable! It is worn everywhere and always in all weathers and all places, at every hour of the night and of the day. ”

“ Proceeding onward, and protected from the fierce heat of the sun's rays by the pleasant shade of mountain pines, we were continually encountering horseloads of cocoons, the fruit of the industry of the Druse silk-rearer. The whole process, from hatching the silkworms' eggs till the moment that the worm becomes a cocoon, is one series of anxiety and labour to the peasant. The worms are so delicate that the smallest change of temperature exposes them to destruction, and the peasant can never confidently count upon reaping a harvest until the cocoon is fairly set. ”

“ But the cloak was much admired and thought to become me more than the last year's red one. The secret was not kept long for the minister's wife explained it to someone to free my mother from the charge of extravagance. Soon everybody knew it and many inquiries were made how it happened. Some of our neighbor's daughters even tried to produce the same effects on their dresses and cloaks by pressing green leaves on them with hot flatirons. But it did not succeed. You cannot imitate accidents; they just happen once; the next one is something different. So all the girls envied me my cloak. ”

“ In this habitation the little architect passes the winter secure from birds and other enemies. As soon as the cocoon has been completed, the caterpillar sheds its skin, and is transformed into a chrysalis. At first the leaf enveloping the cocoon remains green, but soon changes to a red or brown, when it becomes brittle, and is gradually carried away by the winds and storms of winter, until, finally, nothing remains except the cocoon itself, which is firmly suspended by the silk which once covered the footstalk of the leaf. ”