124 Mr. II. B. Fantham on 



Tortoise A, according- to the classification of Tavnffi (quoted 

 Ly Windle [14]), would be a bilateral hermaphrodite. 

 Tortoise B would perhaps be regarded by him as j)3eudo- 

 herma])hrodite. However, specimen B was without doubt 

 fuiictiimally a male, while A had a preponderance of male 

 characters. 



III. Note on Hermaphroditism in the Vertehrata. 



It may at once be said that this is rare, especially in the 

 Amniota. It occurs in My wine, which is protandrous. It 

 occurs casually in some Selachians and in the Sturgeon. 

 Among Teleostean fisiies it constantly occurs in Serranua 

 and Chryso])hrys, while it is occasionally met with in the cod, 

 herring, mackerel, &c. 



Among the Amphibia it is known in Triton (Molfje) 

 iceniatiis and some frogs. There is the remarkable " Bidder^s 

 organ '' in toads. Among frogs the possession of well- 

 marked rudiments of Miilleriau ducts is fairly common, 

 while specimens with complete Miilleiian ducts or oviducts 

 are sometimes found together witii hermaphrodite gonads 

 {cf. Marshall [9] and others). Remains of JMlillerian ducts 

 may occur in J£mys europcea, Lacerta virid/s {rf. Howes [6]), 

 and L. agilis {cf. Jaquet [8]) among Reptiles, and herma- 

 phroditism has been recorded in the chaffinch among birds. 



A remarkable case of iiermaphroditism in the common fowl 

 was, 1 believe, lately exhibited at the Royal Society's Con- 

 versazione, showing secondary cliaracters of both sexes in 

 addition to a strictly hermaphrodite gonad. 



Professor Howes in 1891 described acaseof hermaphroditism 

 in the codfish [7], and, after discussing the significance of 

 the phenomenon in the Vertebrates, inclined to the idea that 

 the ancestral vertebrate was hermaphrodite. Whether this is 

 likel}' or not is open to question. The case of Myxine is 

 usually considered as a secondary acquirement of hermaphro- 

 ditism, connected with its partially parasitic habit. The 

 young tadpole of the frog is at one period of its existence 

 indifferent, which should be carefully distinguished from 

 hermaphrodite. 



If hermaphroditism be considered the primitive or ancestral 

 condition of the Yertebrata, then the cases of tortoises A and B 

 are retrogressive. Stephan [n], in an exhaustive and 

 valuable paper on this question, inclines to the view that 

 hermaphroditism in the Vertebrates is not a phenomenon of 

 retrogression, but a secondary acquirement, substituted for the 

 dicecious state (Stephan, 1902, page 129). 



