258 MR. F. E. BEDDARD ON THE ANATOMY [June 6, 
mented area in the male Gerrhosaurus is distinctly greater than 
in the female example of that lizard, and there is no conspicuous 
fold of membrane continued forward from the gonad duct to serve 
as a demarcation between the two areas in the latter. 
The suspensory ligaments of the liver offer, as is well known, 
characteristic differences of arrangement in various Lacertilia. 
In both examples of Gerrhosawrus the falciform ligament of the 
liver is double posteriorly for about the last } of the total length of 
theliver. This double region of the umbilical or falciform ligament 
is a tent-like structure; that is, the two separate membranes 
converge ventrally to be inserted in common on to the ventral 
median line of the parietes. A partial duplication of the 
umbilical ligament of this kind is not uncommon in the Lacertilia. 
It occurs, for example, in Lacerta ocellata. The double condition 
of the umbilical ligament in the Scincide, originally discovered by 
John Hunter* and subsequently more fully dealt with by myself 7 
and Prof. Cope t, seems to be merely an exaggeration of this, the 
union of the two, posteriorly separate, umbilical ligaments being 
deferred until at or near the anterior extremity of the liver. 
Furthermore, all of the members of the family Scincide are not 
thus characterised ; for in Macroscinus cocteawi the arrangement 
of the umbilical ligament is much like that of Gerrhosaurus. In 
the question of affinity, therefore, the disposition of these mesen- 
teries is not decisive. There are, however, one or two other points 
to be noted, In the first place, in Humeces algeriensis both the 
umbilical ligaments are thickly invaded by muscular tissue, 
especially the left-hand ligament. This is also noticeable in 
Macroscincus, though to a much less extent; and it will be 
remembered that Macroscincus cocteawi is a much larger lizard 
than is Humeces algeriensis, so that size in this case has nothing 
to do with the development of thickness and muscularity in the 
umbilical ligaments. It is plainly therefore of importance to note 
that in Gerrhosaurus these ligaments are not obviously muscular 
at all. 
In the accompanying figures (text-figs. 33, 34) of the ventral 
surface of the liver in Gerrhosaurus two other facts may be 
pointed out, In the first place, there are traces of a membrane 
which runs obliquely forward and ends in a notch in the left 
border of the liver. As this white seam (6 in text-figs. 33, 34) 
is much better developed in one example than in the other, I take 
it to represent a rudimentary structure, and it may represent the 
original course of the umbilical vein and thus correspond to a 
similar trace which Hochstetter has lately described § inj the 
Blind Worm (Anguis fragilis). 
%* Hssays and Observations, revised by Richard Owen, London, 1861, vol. 11. p. 369. 
“The liver [of Tiliqua] is attached forwards by two membranes, one to each lobe, 
which unite at top.” 
+ P. Z.S. 1888, p. 98. 
{ Proc. Acad. Sci. Philadelphia, 1896, p. 308. 
§ Morph. Jahrb. xix. Taf. xvi. fig. 185 but the course of the seam is different m 
the two cases. 
