518 DR. M. WATSON ON THE FEMALE [NoV. 20, 



that communication I pointed out that, while in the majority of 

 specimens which had been examined a well-developed septum uteri 

 existed, yet this septum varied in length in different specimens, 

 and that in none, with the single exception of that which formed 

 the subject of that communication, was the septum uteri com- 

 plete, but fell short of the os uteri to a greater or less extent in 

 different individuals. In none, moreover, was there the slightest 

 trace of a vaginal septum with the exception of the specimen de- 

 scribed by myself, in which the septum vaginae, like the septum uteri, 

 was complete, and of that described by Messrs. Miall and Greenwood ', 

 in which the septum vaginae was reduced to the condition of a 

 fibrous cord, which, stretching across the orifice of the vagina, led 

 these authors to regard it as the representative of the hymen. 



Having recently, through the kindness of Mr. Harnistou of South- 

 port, had an opportunity of examining the female organs of another 

 young Indian Elephant, I have thought it might be well, in view of 

 the diversity of statement above referred to, to put on record the 

 result of a careful dissection of the female organs of this specimen. 

 I shall, for the sake of comparison with my previous communication, 

 class my observations under four heads: — 1st, the condition of the 

 septum uteri, including its relation to the body of the uterus ; 2nd, 

 the differentiation of a secondary vagina from the uterus on the one 

 hand, and from the urogenital canal on the other ; 3rd, the condition 

 of the vaginal septum ; and 4th, the number and position of the 

 orifices which communicate with the commencement of the uro- 

 genital canal. 



With regard to the first of these points, I found that the uterus 

 presented the form already familiar to us through the researches of 

 earlier observers. It consisted of an elongated corpus uteri, the 

 exact dimensions of which I could not determine, as its anterior por- 

 tion had been removed before the specimen fell into my hands. 

 Enough of the organ, however, remained to show that, so far as the 

 external form of the uterus was concerned, it did not differ from the 

 specimen which I described and figured in the -Transactions of the 

 Society. The interior of the uterus was provided with a well- 

 developed septum which, although it occupied the greater portion of 

 the uterus (dividing it into lateral compartments), nevertheless failed 

 to reach the os uteri, but ceased two inches in front of that orifice, 

 at which point it presented a slightly concave or semilunar margin. 

 In this specimen therefore, as in all which have been previously de- 

 scribed, with the single exception of that formerly examined by myself, 

 there was a unilocular corpus uteri, which measured two inches in 

 length, the remainder and much the greater portion of the uterus 

 being divided into two lateral compartments by means of a septum 

 which extended from the junction of the uterine cornua backwards 

 to within two inches of the os uteri. 



With regard to the second point, the differentiation of a secondary 

 va"ina as distinguished from the uterus on the one hand and the 

 urogenital canal on the other, I found in the specimen under con- 

 ' ' Studies in Comparative Anatomy,' vol. ii. p. 64. 



