1881.] VAGINAL APPARATUS IN THE MACROPODID^. G81 



follows: — "Dans le Macropus, les culs-de-sac vaginaux commini- 

 qiient entre eiix, et la cavite commune s'ctend jusqu'au vestibule 

 uretro-genital, mais sans y deboucher. C^ est ce que j ai constate chez 

 des femelles de I'espece M. major, qui avaient fait les petits an mains 

 deux /bis. Dans VUcdtnafurus, le cul-de-sac non seulement atleint 

 le fond du vestibule un'tro-genital, mais il y debouche, comme on I'a 

 montre depuis longtemps." 



In 1 867 Prof. Lucii^ published the result of his investigations made 

 upon three females, two of which belonged to H. bennetti, and the 

 third to //. billardieri. The latter and one of the former were adult ; 

 and in both cases Luca found a direct communication between the 

 median vaginal portion and the urogenital sinus. In the third speci- 

 men, which was a not full-grown female, he found the median vaginal 

 cul-de-sac closed. 



In 1868 Prof. Owen's Comp. Anat. vol. iii. was published, in which 

 the only reference to the subject is as follows (p. 683): — " In H. ben- 

 netti I found an aperture of communication between tlie median cul- 

 de-sac and the urogenital canal ; and, as the same structure has been 

 observed in two otiier specimens, it is doubtless normal, at least after 

 parturition. The fact, however, does not justify the conclusion that 

 the lateral vaginal canals convey exclusively the semen for impregna- 

 tion, and that the median canals, which, as a rule, are closed and 

 distinct from each other, serve only to transmit the foetus to the 

 urogenital passage." 



In 1869 Lucii- published an account of his examination of a 

 second adult specimen of H. bennetti, which had a mammary foetus 

 2-2| inches long in the pouch. In this case also the median vaginal 

 canal communicated with the urogenital sinus. 



In 18/1 Prof. Pagenstecher^ of Heidelberg, published an article 

 " Ueber den Embryo von M. major." This observer found a foetus 

 in the left uterus ; and he says : — " dass Owen ganz Recht hat, indeni 

 er sagt dass bei M. major iiberhaupt eine Communikation des mit- 

 tleren Scheidenblindsacks mit dem von ihm als Vorhof bezeichneten 

 Abschnitt nicht besteht, wogegen H. ruficollis {bennetti) die voll- 

 standig offene Verbindung zeigt." 



In 1875, Prof. Garrod^ in speaking of //. luctuosus (Dorcopsis 

 luctuosa) writes : — " The uterus is perfectly jNlacropine, as are the 

 vaginae. No direct communication could be found between the 

 uterine pouch of the vaginae and the common vaginal canal." 



In a paper by Erass^ pubhshedin 18S0, examples of three genera 

 of Macropodidse are described and figured. In no instance is it 

 stated whether young had been born or not. A specimen of 

 " 3Iacropus ffiffantens " was found to have the median vaginal canal 

 ending blindly ; and tlie figure shows its posterior end quite free from 

 the urogenital chamber. 



1 Der zool. Garten, viii. 1867, p. 418 & p. 471. 



2 Der zool. Garten, x. ISC.'J, p. 61. 



' Halle Zeitschrift, iii. 1871, p, 526. * P. Z. S. 1875, p. 57. 



' Beitriige zur Keuntniss des weiblicben Urogenitalsystems derMarsupialen, 

 von Arnold Brass. Leipzig, 1880. 



