SUPRAEENAL BODIES IN FISHES. 75 



head-kidney described by Balfour. In other cases where suprarenals have been detected \ 

 they have always been attached to the surface of the kidney." Later on he talks about 

 " the very general absence of suprarenals as separate structures in Teleosteans " i, as if 

 their lying upon the surface of the kidney abolished them as "separate structures"! 

 More recently. Miss Kirkaldy (33) has expressed much the same views as Weldon. 

 She remarks, " It may therefore be concluded that the pronephros in Myxine 

 represents the mesoblastic part of the suprarenal bodies, which have been shown by 

 Prof. Weldon to be derived from the anterior part of the mesonephros in the 

 higher Vertebrata." 



I have already shown conclusively that suprarenals are not frequently absent, but 

 are probably always present. It only remains to deal with their supposed relation to 

 the head-kidney. Weldon's teaching seems to have found pretty general acceptance. 

 Thus Auld^ says, referring to the lymphatic tissue of the head-kidney, ''Now in 

 Teleosteans and Teleosteoid Ganoids which possess this tissue no suprarenal organs are 

 found 1, and hence it is to be concluded with Balfour (!) that they are represented by 

 this tissue." Balfour, at any rate in the paper quoted, says nothing of the kind ; but 

 the comparative portion of Auld's paper is of no importance, except as illustrating the 

 injurious influence of Weldon's inaccuracy. 



It will have been noticed that although many writers have declared suprarenals to 

 be often absent in Teleosts, none of them have stated definitely in what species we 

 may look for them in vain. The above quotations imply a very general belief some- 

 thing to this effect : that suprarenal bodies are rare phenomena in Teleosts and 

 Ganoids, and that when present there is no lymphatic head-kidney, while when they 

 are absent their place is taken by this structure. 



The following quotation from Wiedersheim (Lehrbuch der vergl. Anat. der 

 Wirbelthiere, 2" Aufl., Jena, 1886) shows the need for clearing up this point: — 



" Bei Teleostiern sind die Nebennieren nicht iiberall in klarer und iiberzeugender 

 Weise nachgewiesen, wo dies aber der Fall ist, handelt es sich, wie friiher schon 

 angedeutet wurde, um Beziehungen zu der in lymphoides (adenoides) Gewebe umge- 

 wandelten Kopfniere. (Dies gilt nach W. Weldon auch fiir die Cyclostomen [Bdello- 

 stoma Forsteri].) In andern Fallen, aber, sind sie enge mit der Niere verbunden." 



The plain facts of the case are quite the contrary, and are these : — 



Suprarenal capsules are present in certainly the majority of Teleosts and Ganoids, 

 and I believe in all. Further, as far as I know at present, the purely lymphatic head- 

 Mdney is present in all Ganoids and in all Teleosts except Lophius, Dactylopterus, 

 Fierasfer, and, as will be stated below, Orthagoriscus mola^. 



• The italics are mine.— S. V. = Brit. Med. Journ., Oct. 6th. 1894. 



' And, according to Holt and Calderwood, in JUora mediUrranea and the Macruridse. 



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