798 ON THE UROGENITAL ORGANS OF THE KANGAROO, 



The caecal conditions of the median vaginal sae described by 

 Prof. Owen in M. major, and by Prof. GTegenbaurin Halmaturm 

 sp. have been shewn by several observers not to obtain in other 

 species of kangaroos, but to be replaced, at any rate after 

 parturition, by the condition met with by Prof. Owen and two 

 other anatomists, in H. Bennett ii. This interesting condition, 

 beyond the passing allusion of Prof. Owen to its occurrence in 

 one species already quoted, is not mentioned in any of the text 

 books most used by English students, and does not seem to have 

 met with the attention it deserves. Before giving an account of 

 some observations which I have recently had the opportunity of 

 making, the results arrived at by previous observers will be pretty 

 fully stated, since much of the literature relating to Marsupial 

 anatomy in general and to this point in particular, is not access- 

 ible in this colony. 



II. Historical. 



The female organs of the kangaroo were first described by 

 Sir Everard Home in 1795. The following extracts from his 

 paper* bear on the subject, but it must be remembered that 

 when this writer uses the terms, uterus, vagina, and lateral canals, 

 he refers to what are now regarded as being mesial cul-de-sac, 

 urogenital passage and lateral vaginal canals, respectively. Home 

 says : " the vagina itself is about 1^- in. in length, beyond which 

 it is divided into two separate canals, and on the ridge which lies 

 between them opens the meatus urinarius leading to the urinary 

 bladder. * * * * The uterus itself is extremely thin and 

 membranous in its coats, infundibular in its shape and situated 

 in the middle space between these canals ; it is largest at its 

 fundus, and becomes smaller and smaller towards the meatus 

 urinarus where it terminates : the uterus at that part in the 

 virgin state being impervious." 



*Phil. Trans., Vol. Ixxxv., 1795, pp. 222-230. 



