No difference in the complexity of the folds of the mucosa of the two stages can be noticed.
The thickness of the fibro-muscular part of the wall of the intestine varies considerably on different sides of the same region, but it consists of the same layers in about the same relative amounts.
Fig. 51. An outline of a transsection of the wall of the middle region of the small intestine of the feeding animal, under low magnification; m, mucosa; other letters as in [Figure 42].
[Figure 51] represents in outline the wall of the middle region of the small intestine during feeding.
The epithelium is of the same thickness in the two stages, and the only difference in its character that can be seen under a high magnification is that, in the middle region at least, the nuclei are not crowded so close together at the basal ends of the cells as in the hibernating stage but are scattered more towards their free ends.
Fig. 52. A transsection of the wall of the anterior region of the rectum or large intestine of the hibernating animal, under low magnification; tp, tunica propria; other letters as in [Figure 42].
Altogether, the differences in microscopic structure between the small intestine of an alligator at the end of the hibernating period and at the end of a period of regular feeding are very slight.