M*^- THE SUPRARENAL BODIES OF FISHES. 319 



1897. 



description of the minute anatomy of the bodies. Hyrtl 1851 (10) and 

 Leydig (11) contributed further papers to the subject, the former 

 deaHng with teleosts, and the latter with Chimceva. 



In 1852 Frey (8) pubHshed a general resume of what was known 

 of these bodies, in Todd's Cyclopaedia. Leydig in 1852 (12) pointed 

 out their segmental arrangement ; and a further contribution was 

 made by Stannius. In 1875 Semper (19), in a very valuable paper, 

 emphasised the importance of the segmental arrangement. F. M. 

 Balfour in 1878 (i) gave an account of the morphology and develop- 

 ment of the suprarenal bodies in elasmobranchs in his well known 

 "Monograph." It is to this writer that we owe the term 'interrenal.' 

 A description of the suprarenals of Amiunis was published by 

 M'Kenzie in 1884 (14). 



Coming now to more recent work and better methods of investi- 

 gation, we find a series of papers by Fusari (9), Chevrel (2 and 3), 

 Diamare (5-6), Pettit (15), and Vincent (22-25). The following short 

 account of the suprarenal bodies is based upon the observations of 

 the above five writers ; and I am especially indebted to Mr. Vincent 

 for his kindness in allowing me to read through a paged proof of his 

 larger paper (26) as well as for copies of his other writings on the 

 subject. 



In the elasmobranchs the term ' suprarenal ' has been applied 

 to two totally distinct sets of organs, viz. : — (i.) the intevrenal bodies of 

 Balfour, which are somewhat rod-shaped bodies, sometimes paired, in 

 which case they are situated on the internal dorsal backs of each 

 kidney, and sometimes unpaired, lying in the median line on the 

 posterior region of the kidney ; and (ii.) the segmental series of bodies 

 arranged in pairs on each side of the dorsal aorta, and in close 

 relationship to the sympathetic nervous system, the supvavenal bodies. 



The Intevrenal body. — Among elasmobranchs this body is unpaired 

 in the sharks, but paired in the rays. In the former group it is 

 largest posteriorly, tapering anteriorly in the form of an ochre-yellow 

 strip ; sometimes there are accessory interrenals in the form of minute 

 dots of similar substance. In the latter group these bodies are never 

 quite symmetrical. Semper was of opinion that a connection existed 

 between the interrenal and suprarenal bodies, but later investigations 

 have shown that such a view was erroneous. 



The Segmental Suprarenal bodies. — Chevrel (2) has figured and 

 described the relations of these bodies with the sympathetic nervous 

 system. In the elasmobranchs they are arranged in pairs in a more 

 or less definite manner, from the Cuvierian duct to the posterior end 

 of the kidney. The first pair are always the largest ; posteriorly they 

 become smaller and fragmentary. In the sturgeon they are similar 

 in many respects to those found in elasmobranchs, only they are 

 most plentiful in the anterior portion of the kidney. The sturgeon 

 has only the cortex present, i,e., the suprarenals here are equal to the 

 interrenals of elasmobranchs and the known suprarenals (bodies of 



