664> ON THE VEOGE>'TTAL OEGAXS OF THE KANGAEOO, 



What evidence there is, is strongly in favour of their being virgins, 

 and has already been discussed in the paper in the P.Z.S., 1881. 

 It must be remembered however that in the same paper a single 

 instance is given of the occurrence of the direct communication 

 in 31. major, and allusion is made to specimen No. 3160 D. in the 

 Museum of the College of Surgeons in which infei^eiitially there 

 is a like condition, but this state of things is very exceptional. 

 On the other hand, the at any rate j90sf partum existence of a 

 direct communication has now been described in ten species in 

 addition to two in which it is described for the first time in this 

 paper. Clearly then in M. major there is, as a rule, a persistence 

 of what was probably a more primitive condition of the vagina 

 in kangaroos, while in other species as far as we know at present, 

 the addition of a direct communication has been found to be 

 advantageous. Why there should be this important and interest- 

 ing difference, it is not easy even to offer a suggestion. It will 

 be of interest to know the condition in the species whose uro- 

 genital organs are yet undescribed, and I hope shortly to be able 

 to continue the investigation of this point. 



On the very reasonable supposition that Home's specimens did 

 not belong to M.. major, for he simply speaks of them as kangaroos, 

 and his figures do not give much help on this point, it is not 

 difficult to explain the controversy which has arisen as to the 

 presence of the direct communication in question, since its origin 

 is clearly traceable to the fact that different observers have drawn 

 their conclusions from the consideration of specimens which 

 present different conditions under similar circumstances. 

 Taking this view of the matter, the following passage from 

 a review of Poelman's paper written some thirty years ago by 

 Yan Beneden,* is interesting : " Deux museaux de tanche, 

 s'ouvrant dans une cavito formant un cul-de-sac ; deux vagins 

 en forme d'anse ; une cavite unique on les vagins aboutissent 



* Bull, de r Acad. Koy. de Belgique, xviii., pp. 579-80. 



