66 



mature 

 hedral 



oval to circular — such as is so conspicuous in the many-layered type 

 of acinus. 



On a section being made through the urethra in the vicinity of 

 the opening of the ducts of these glands immediately after the death 

 of a fully mature animal in the rutting season (June) — at which 

 period there is a great distension of this portion of the urethra — it 

 was discovered to be full of a pure white substance, which stained 

 with hsematoxylin in a manner similar to the secretion of the gland de- 

 scribed in this communication ; that is to say, it contained an enormous 

 number of the small bodies just described. They diflered only from 

 those found in the acini in that they were more fragmented. 



In the inter -acinar connective tissue of a gland taken from a 

 hedgehog killed in July I have found groups of large poly- 

 finely granular cells (Fig. 3) the nuclei of which are mostly 



oval, contain chromatin 

 ;(^N in a finely granular form, 



and stain less readily 

 with nuclear stains than 

 do the nuclei of the 

 acinar cells. By the 

 examination of serial 

 sections it is clear that 

 these cells are arranged 

 in clusters. They are 

 situated in close proxi- 

 mity to blood-vessels, 

 and are surrounded by 

 a delicate sheath of 

 fibrous tissue. This was 

 the only specimen in 

 which the cells were well 

 defined and easily de- 

 monstrable, but I have 

 seen them to a less ex- 

 tent, and not so con- 

 spicuous, in an animal 

 — also mature — killed in June of the following year. From the 

 fact that the material that I have been able to examine has been 

 somewhat limited one cannot say if these cells are usually present 

 in the adult animal or whether their presence is only occasional. In 

 animals not fully mature there is no indication of them. 



Fig. 3. A section from the same gland as Fig. 2 ; 

 and viewed under the same magnification. / blood- 

 vessels, g clusters of interacinar cells. The other let- 

 tering as in Fig. 2. 



