4 RICHARD ASSHETON AND THOMAS G. STEVENS. 
any part of the amnios attaining the mner surface of the 
placenta.” 
Chapman, however, found no allantoic cavity, but from the 
position of the foetal vessels with regard to the inner surface 
of the placenta, and to certain bodies which he identified 
with structures named subcircular bodies by Owen, and 
stated to be upon the inner surface of the allantois, he con- 
cludes that the cavity of the allantois has disappeared through 
fusion of its walls together and to the amnion. 
Our specimen similarly exhibited a fusion of amnion with 
allantois and chorion in the region of the zonary belt, but 
elsewhere the amnion was fully separated from the endo- 
chorion. Nowhere could an allantoic cavity be found. 
Chapman also noticed and figured subcircular areas of 
villous tissue at the poles of the chorionic sac, already described 
by Owen. 
Both authors allude to the morphological interest of those 
villous patches of connection with the walls of the uterus. 
Owen writes: “The most important modification in the 
vascular structures connecting the chorion with the uterus in 
the elephant is their combination of two forms of the placenta, 
viz., the ‘annular’ and the ‘diffused,’ which forms are 
restricted in other Mammalia to distinct kinds of quadrupeds.” 
Neither author gives any account of the more minute 
structure of this diffuse and probably non-deciduous part of 
the placenta. It is to be regretted that this portion of the 
foetal membranes was not preserved on the occasion of the 
birth of the young elephant in the Zoological Gardens last 
year and that no observations were recorded upon this point 
(Beddard, 2). It is, however, certain that these villous 
patches if present must have been very inconspicuous, for 
although not actually looked for, they were not so evident as 
to attract attention. 
There would seem to be some variation in the breadth of 
the zonary placental area. Owen speaks of its being 
“»artially divided by opposite constrictions into two 
moieties, one measuring 12 inches, the other 10 inches in 
