878 ANATOMY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MARSUPIALIA, 



portions of the Miillerian ducts, together with the median vaginal! 

 apparatus, remain permanently embedded in the tissue extend- 

 ing between the median vaginal canals and the urogenital sinus, 

 — the persistent genital cord. 



Another point, to which I wish to draw attention here, is the- 

 sharp division of the uteri into body and neck. In the figure 

 (Fig.l) the bodies of the uteri can be plainly seen(r.?t^.). The 

 canals leading posteriorly from these gradually converge and 

 meet. They are the uterine necks, and, just after meeting, each 

 presents a distinct os, which in this case does not project. into- 

 tlie cavity of the corresponding median vaginal culde-sac, but 

 into a short canal continuous with the uterine neck, which itself 

 leads to the median vaginal cul-de-sac, and which, for the time 

 being, I have named the median vaginal neck. 



The O v a r i e s (Fig.l, r.ov.) are situated in the abdominal 

 cavity, some distance in advance of the pubic symphysis. They 

 are somewhat compressed oval bodies, with the long axis oblique 

 to the long axis of the animal. In this specimen, they measure 

 in length 7 "5 mm,, in breadth 5 mm. The surface is almost 

 smooth and finely granulated. The direction of the long axis of 

 the ovary to the long axis of the animal is by no means constant 

 on different sides of the same animal, as Fig.l indicates. In 

 Perameles the ovaries are situated dorsally to the uteri. In 

 Sarcophilus they are placed well in front (distant about 10 mm.) 

 of the uteri. Tlie ovaries are widely separated from one another,, 

 and are fully visible in the natural condition of the parts. 

 Between them stretches the median, united portion of the broad, 

 ligament. To this, the ovaries are attached by thickened^ 

 upward invaginated portions. 



Of the ovaries of Perameles, Hill says, " . . . they lie enclosed,, 

 together wdth the fimbriated openings of the Fallopian tubes, in 

 peritoneal pouches formed by the broad ligaments. The pouches 

 lie dorsal to the uteri, and open posteriorly by wide apertures, 

 into the dorsal uterine fossa."(3) 



In Sarcophilus, on the other hand, the ovaries are not con- 

 tained in any pouches, but are freely and fully visible from above. 



