1428 



VESICULA PROSTATICA. 



tween the Weberian organ and the vasa de- 

 ferentia, but also on account of its seeming 

 to constitute an exception to the alleged 

 morphological law that the efferent ducts 

 of the Wolffian glands never open into the 

 vagina, but always into the point of its tran- 

 sition into the uro-genital canal. Accord- 

 ing to my observations in the embryo of the 

 rabbit, even here the ordinary relation is 

 originally present: the Weberian organ opens 

 close behind the vasa deferentia into the uro- 

 genital canal. But very soon a transverse 

 fold arises behind the points of opening of the 

 seminal ducts, and by its continual enlarge- 

 ment, even after birth, it as constantly pro- 

 trudes these openings outwards into the neck 

 of the Weberian organ. Even in the fully de- 

 veloped condition this fold may be recognised 

 in the anterior swollen margin of the opening 

 of the Weberian organ. 



ADDENDUM. A considerable period having 

 elapsed since the MS. of the preceding article 

 was placed in the Editor's hands, I have 

 availed myself, during that time, of many op- 

 portunities both of confirming and extending 

 my observations on the phenomena con- 

 nected with the Weberian corpuscle. My 

 esteemed friend and colleague, the eminent 

 embryologist, C. H. Bisehoff, has, with great 

 liberality, handed over to me a large number 

 of rare preparations, from the collection of 

 the Giessen University, for comparative ex- 

 amination. 



From another source also an important 

 addition to the knowledge of this organ has 

 been afforded us ; and this I hail with the 

 greater pleasure, as it shows how great an 

 interest attaches itself to this subject in other 

 countries. The treatise to which 1 allude is 

 the Inaugural Dissertation by Wahlgren, pub- 

 lished at Lund.* 



I therefore now find myself in a position 

 to fill up many deficiencies in the foregoing 

 paper. For this purpose I prefer the form of 

 a supplement, and hope that the reader will 

 excuse whatever degree of inconvenience at- 

 taches itself to it, on account of the circum- 

 stances under which a foreign contributor is 

 situated, 



Q,uadrumana. I formerly conjectured that 

 the true Apes, without exception, possessed 

 the Weberian organ (p. 1416.) ; in confirma- 

 tion of this, I can now add, that it occurs 

 both in the species mentioned (Joe. cit.), and 

 in Pit/iecus troglodytes and Cynocephalus por- 

 carius. Wahlgren observed it likewise in an 

 undescribed species of Ape. It appears, how- 

 ever, not to occur throughout the group in an 

 equal manner. In the Lemur albifrons, I ob- 

 served on the colliculus serninalis a fine longi- 

 tudinal fissure, between the apertures of the 

 seminal ducts (a fine capillary canal entered 

 it a short distance but this may have been 



* Eidrag till Generations-Organernas Anatomi 

 och Physiologi hos Menniskan och Daggdj uren, 

 1849. Translated by Peters into German, in J. Mtil- 

 ler's Archiv fUr Anatomic und Physiologic, 1849, 



made in mounting the preparation): in Stenopt 

 tardigradus I have, however, convinced myself 

 of the absence of the organ. 



FertB. Wahlgren describes the Weberian 

 corpuscle in Felis lynx as an oval cavity, three 

 lines in length, and opening by a fissure-like 

 aperture into the uro-genital canal on the mid- 

 dle of the verumontanum. In the Brown 

 Bear it is similar, but much larger (5"'), pear- 

 sKaped, and with a considerable aperture. 

 Nasua fusca, also, according to Wahlgren, 

 possesses a similar gland. In the Otter, I 

 have now observed this organ in two speci- 

 mens. It is disposed as the foregoing, and; as 

 was conjectured, has a considerable central 

 cavity, with a small aperture. The cornua 

 are solid ligamentous cords. 



Marsupialia. The marsupial animals ap- 

 pear to be very generally destitute of this 

 organ. In Halmaturus gigantem, Phascolomys 

 wombatus, and Sarcophilus ursinus, I found no 

 more traces of it than previously in Didelphys 

 mrginiana. Wahlgren also found it absent in 

 Halmaturus giganteus. 



Rodentia. The remarkable structure 

 this organ in Rabbits and Hares might well 

 belong to the whole group of the Leporince. 

 In Lepus borealis it is the least, cceteris paribus, 

 according to Wahlgren. Yet here it attains 

 even the colossal size of three inches, with a 

 proportionate breadth (up to 1" 10'"). With 

 the Palmipedta, on the contrary, it is other- 

 wise. Distinct as it is in the Beaver (p. 

 1418.), it is but little developed in the nearly 

 related Myopotamus coypus, in which Wahlgren 

 found a mere rudiment, consisting of two 

 thread-like cords. The two agreed in their 

 position with the Weberian corpuscle of the 

 beaver, and enclose a small cavity, with an 

 opening on the colliculus seminalis. With re- 

 gard to Sciurus, Wahlgren confirmed the ab- 

 sence of the organ : nor was it observed in 

 Lemnus. Hystrix cridata and Hydrochcerus 

 cnpybara are likewise without it, according to 

 my own observations. In the last, however, 

 as in the closely allied Agouti and Cavia, the 

 two seminal ducts have a common, cavernous, 

 wide aperture. 



Edentata. Besides the Bradypus indue- 

 tylus, I have lately examined Cholcepus didac- 

 tylus, also Dasypus octosus, and Ornithorhyncus 

 paradoxus. In none of these is the organ 

 present. Wahlgren also states the same of 

 Ornithorhyncus. 



Ruminantia. The Weberian organ appears 

 to be generally present in the Cervina. That of 

 the deer is above described (p. 1420.). It is far 

 more considerable iii the Hart and the Reindeer, 

 where it ascends between the seminal ducts 

 in the form of a cylinder, about two inches 

 long, which in the former is distinctly bi-cleft 

 at the extremity. There is an internal cavity, 

 which in the Hart is continued into the 

 cornua, and opens on the verumontanum. 

 In the Goat there are numerous individual 

 varieties in the development of this organ, 

 as I have before mentioned (p. 1420.). In 

 many instances it is altogether wanting, as 

 I have now convinced myself. In one case I 



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