432 MR. W. A. FORBES ON THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT. [May G, 



a secondary vagina (" the proper, or rather uncommon, vagina, which 

 the penis cannot enter"), a corpus uteri, with two horns, and Fallo- 

 pian tubes and ovaries. The ovaries lie in pouches of peritoneum, 

 attached by peritoneal folds to the kidneys : the one I examined re- 

 sembled in form those figured by Mayer in the Indian species. It 

 was a little over an inch long, and generally smooth, with only a few 

 small lobular processes and erupted Graafian follicles near the line of 

 attachment to the peritoneal pouch. The latter is continuous with 

 the opening of the Fallopian tube, and is of considerable size : its 

 walls are thickened by muscular fibres, prolonged into it apparently 

 from the Fallopian tubes. The tubes are of small calibre, of the size 

 of a crow-quill, about 3 or 4 inches long, and, after a tortuous course, 

 open into the cornua uteri at the side of that tube, as well shown in 

 Mayer's figure (/. c. pi. vi. fig. 2) s 



The two cornua are about | inch across at their commencement, 

 and have very thick muscular and elastic walls. For the last 4| 

 inches of the course of the cornua they are united together (as seen 

 in fig. 7) into a single tube, which is about 1 inch across at the 

 point of junction. This tube is externally single ; but nevertheless, 

 on cutting it across, the two comparatively small cavities of the cor- 

 nua are seen lying beside one another, but separated by a conside- 

 rable septum. Without any difference in the external calibre of the 

 tube, the two cornua open together into a common cavity 2J inches 

 long, which is the true " corpus uteri." At their opening each 

 cornu admits a large knitting-needle. There is no valve of any 

 kind at the opening. Both cornua and corpus are lined by smooth, 

 longitudinally plaited, mucous membrane. A similar arrangement 

 to that here described would seem to be indicated by Perrault's de- 

 scription : — "Ces comes, aulieu de s'ecarter et de se separer comme 

 elles font ordinairement, etoient jointes l'une contre l'autre, montant 

 jusqu'au hauteur d'un pied, et n'etant separes que par une cloison 

 mitoyenne ; ensuite elles se separent en deux branches." In his 

 example (nearly or quite adult) each horn measured 2 feet 8 inches, 

 and was 1 \ inch across at the commencement. The female genital 

 organs he pictures on pi. 21 : this shows the conjoined cornua, which 

 are separate till near their end, as seen in section. 



The next part of the genital organs is the dilated, sac-like, " secon- 

 dary," or " uncommon," vagina. This is about 5| inches long, and is 

 lined by smooth mucous membrane, with slightly raised longitudinal 

 folds, running from the opening into it of the corpus uteri. This open- 

 ing is small, only admitting the tip of the little finger, and is provided 

 behind with an irregularly bilobed thick valve of mucous membrane. 

 This constriction and valve undoubtedly represent the " os uteri." 

 Perrault describes this " secondary vagina" as the "corps ovale ;" 

 in his specimen it measured 18 inches by 6 inches, and was smooth 

 and polished within. It is well shown in his figure (/. c. pi. 21) ; but 

 the " valvule frangee aux embouchures des comes de la matrice " is 

 not quite like the valve in my specimen. In the text he says, " Deux 

 trous au dedans... etoient entoures par un appendice de la membrane 

 interne... en maniere de la frange ou de pavilion." It would appear, 

 then, that in his animal there was no " corpus uteri," such as that 



