BY J. J. FLETCHER, M.A., B.Sc. 797 



Wombat fPhascolomys) each uterus communicates with a separate 

 and large vaginal cul-de-sac." 



In the kangaroos with which we are now more immediately 

 concerned the two vaginae give rise to but one so-called mesial 

 cul-de-sac, which however shows a more or less complete longi- 

 tudinal septum. In Macropios major Prof. Owen describes the 

 following condition : " the vaginae preponderate in size greatly 

 over the uteri ; and the septum of the descending cul-de-sac 

 being always more or less incomplete, a single cavity is thus 

 formed, into which both uteri open ; but however imperfect the 

 septum may be, it always intervenes and preserves its original 

 relations to the uterine orifices. In the specimen examined by 

 me, this part of the vagina was not continuous by means of its 

 proper tissue with the urogenital canal, but was connected thereto 

 by areolar tissue. In Halmaturus Bennettii, I found an aperture 

 of communication between the median cul-de-sac and the uro- 

 genital canal ; and as the same structure has been observed in 

 two other specimens, it is doubtless normal, at least after 

 parturition. The fact however does not justify the conclusion 

 that the lateral vaginal canals convey exclusively the semen for 

 impregnation, and that the median canals, which as a rule, are 

 closed and distinct from one another, serve only to transmit the 

 foetus to the urogenital passage." 



Eeferring to the reproductive organs of Marsupialia, the 

 English translation of Prof. Gegenbaur's Manual (p. 616) states 

 as follows ; " each of the two uteri opens by a papillif orm process 

 into a portion, which from the exterior appears to be common to 

 both, and which is formed by the union of the two Mullerian 

 ducts. A curved vagina is given off from this on either side 

 (Didelphys), or the commencement of the tube is replaced by a 

 caecal vaginal sac which is pushed out backwards, and is usually, 

 though not always, divided internally by a median partition ; 

 from this sac the distinct vaginal canals pass in a curved direction 

 to the urogenital sinus, (Halmaturus)" 



