804 ON THE UROGENITAL ORGANS OF THE KANGAROO, 



In 1880 Arnold Brass * published a thesis in which he figures 

 and describes the female organ of M. major and Hahnaturus 

 Bennettii. His results entirely agree with those of Prof. Owen 

 in reference to individuals of the same two species. He also 

 speaks of a third specimen which was given to him as belonging 

 to H. Bennettii, but though the ovaries shewed two corpora 

 lutea, no direct communication existed between the median 

 vaginal cul-de-sac and the urogenital passage, This paper does 

 not contain much that is new relating to the point now under 

 consideration, since the results recorded merely corroborate those 

 arrived at by several previous observers, and, with the exception 

 of Prof. Owen's article " Marsupialia " from Todd's Cyclopedia, 

 and Prof. Luca's paper, the writer seems to have been quite 

 unaware of the literature of the subject. 



Last summer during the visit of Mr. Porbes to Brazil, my 

 friend Mr. J. J. Lister, B.A. of St, John's College Camb., per- 

 formed the duties of Prosector at the Zoological Society's 

 G-ardens, London. Early in the summer a kangaroo (H. tcalabatus) 

 in the Collection died, which Mr. Lister dissected. In working 

 over the female organs a direct communication between the 

 median vaginal canal and the urogenital passage was found to 

 exist. Two days afterwards my friend shewed me his careful 

 notes and drawings, and not being able to gather any information 

 relating to this species from the text-books and other authorities 

 then at our disposal they were set aside for further consideration. 

 Subsequently two other kangaroos in the Gardens died, and each 

 of these also possessed a direct communication between the 

 median vaginal canal and the urogenital passage, Now one of 

 these kangaroos was a specimen of M. rufus, and as in the case 

 of H. ualabatus, we could find no reference whatever to the 

 condition of things in this species. The other animal was a 

 specimen of M. major. In the meantime one of us had been 



*Beitrage zur kenntniss des Urogenitalsystcms der Marsupialeu, Leipsig, 

 1880. . # 



