The gross and microscopic anatomy of the major salivary glands of the ferretwas studied. There were 5 pairs of major salivary glands, parotid, submandibular, sublingual, molar and zygomatic. They were of compound tubuloacinar type and consisted of numerous lobes and lobules. The parotid gland was grossly similar to the parotids in other mammals but histologically it was seromucous as in the carnivores dog and cat. The parotid duct opened into the vestibule of the mouth opposite the upper third premolar tooth. The submandibular gland was single on each side, oval in shape and cervical in position. Histologically it was entirely mucous. The submandibular duct opened at a sublingual papilla in the oral cavity at the side of the frenulum of the tongue. The sublingual gland was the smallest of the major salivary glands. It was single on each side and lay deep to the digastric muscle. It opened by several small ductules into the submandibular duct. It was mainly mucous and did not contain intercalated and striated ducts. The molar gland was located superficially near the angle of the mouth. It was irregularly pyramidal and opened by several small ducts into the vesibule opposite the lower molar teeth. It was predominantly mucous. There were no intercalated or striated ducts. The zygomatic gland was present deep to the masseter and related to the orbit in the infra-temporal fossa. The gland opened by several small ducts into the vestibule opposite the upper molar teeth. It was also predominantly mucous and there were no intercalated or striated ducts.

The morphology and histology of the post-pharyngeal part of the gastrointestinal tract of the ferret were studied. The oesophagus was a distensible muscular tube. Its mucosa was lined by keratinizing stratified squamous epithelium. The muscle coat was striated throughout except near the cardia. A cardiac sphincter was present. The stomach was morphologically and histologically very similar to that of man. The duodenum appeared C-shaped and had a mesoduodenum. The bile and pancreatic ducts formed a common duct in the wall of the duodenum. The sphincter of Oddi was present. Brunner’s glands were present in the pyloric part of the stomach, and up to the common opening of the bile and pancreatic ducts in the duodenum. The intestine could be differentiated macroscopically and microscopically into small and large intestines. The small intestine distal to the duodenum formed coiled tubes suspended by a mesentery. It was not possible morphologically to differentiate jejunum and ileum. Histologically, however, the distal portion was identifiable as ileum by increasing numbers of goblet cells, and Peyer’s patches in the submucosa. Villi were present in the mucosa throughout but there was no spiral or circular fold. The large intestine was a straight dilated tube lying in the left flank and extending from the splenic flexure to the anus in the median plane. It was suspended by a short mesocolon except for the rectal portion in the pelvis. The ileo-colic junction was differentiated morphologically and histologically. There was no caecum, appendix, taeniae coli or appendices epiploicae. The large intestine was not differentiated topographically into ascending, transverse and descending colon.

The sublingual glands of 2 male and 2 female adult ferrets were examined using electron microscopy. The secretory end piece consisted of mucous tubules, serous and mixed acini. The mucous cells showed two different types of granules. The serous cells contained electron-dense secretory granules. The duct system entirely comprised excretory ducts.

Mucosubstances in the tracheobronchial tree of the ferret were studied histochemically. The submucous glands contained predominantly neutral mucins. Scattered between these were cells containing sulphated mucins and sialidase-labile and sialidase-resistant sialomucins. Most of the goblet cells in the trachea, as well as those in the bronchi and larger bronchioles, contained sulphated mucins. A smaller proportion of the goblet cells showed sialidase-labile and sialidase-resistant sialomucins. It will be interesting to see whether ferrets can be used to produce animal models for hypersecretory diseases such as cystic fibrosis and chronic bronchitis.

The histology and mucosubstance histochemistry of the ferret lingual glands were studied. Both serous and mucous minor salivary glands were present in the posterior part of the tongue. In serous glands, acinar cells and a very few cells of the excretory ducts contained granules which gave reactions for neutral mucopolysaccharides only. The mucous glands, including the duct system, contained mainly weakly sulphated acidic mucin, some neutral mucin but no carboxylated mucin. Occasional goblet cells were present in the excretory ducts of both serous and mucous glands. They contained weakly sulphated mucin.