192 MR. F. E. BEDDARD ON THE [Feb. 19, 



to be more inarked in the two adults than in the foetus. In the 

 male adult the first aiflnent of the azygos arose behind the fourth 

 lib ; after this there was a gap of one rib, and thi'ee very much 

 stouter afiluents arose behind the sixth, seventh, and eighth ribs 

 respectively. Thereafter the psoas muscles concealed the inter- 

 costal veins at their entry into the azygos, but they appeared to 

 be regular. In the female Deer the same very stout intercostal 

 veins arose from the intercostal spaces 6-7, 7-8, 8-9 as in the male, 

 but I did not find the slender anterior intercostal which I have 

 described in the male ; I should not like, however, to assert that 

 it was absent. It is very interesting to observe this constancy in 

 a vein which has been stigmatised as most inconstant. Moreover, 

 the foetus showed the same arrangement of these veins with a 

 slight diflerence. The first affluent of the azygos was very stout 

 and arose between ribs 3 and 4, being thus a. rib further forward ; 

 but after this the first affluent of the regular series arose in the 

 same way as in the two specimens of Tragulus meminna just 

 described, behind the sixth rib. In this foetus, moreover, a very 

 slender intercostal, which I did not find in either of the adults, 

 .arose from behind the second rib and either joined the precaval 

 independently or just at the point of entrance of the azygos. In 

 this foetus the first rib sent an intercostal vein to the subclavian 

 of the right side. On the left side none of the three specimens 

 liad any properly developed azygos. But in the foetus and the 

 male adult a large oesophageal vein received intercostal affluents 

 from the second and third ribs on the left side and entered the 

 subclavian of that side. There was something to correspond in 

 the female ; but I am unable to give a proper description. In any 

 case, the presence of rather more veins in the foetus and the absence 

 ■of at any rate much variation in the azygos system of the adult 

 Tragulus meminna *, are noteworthy. It is possible indeed that 

 there was no variation at all. 



There is a very considerable agreement between the azygos vein 

 of Tragulus and that of Cervus sika, but not, as will be shown pre- 

 sently, of Cervus aristotelis. In a female of Cervus sika the azygos 

 was developed only upon the right side of the body. There were no 

 traces of anything of the kind on the left side. The right azygos 

 enters the precaval rather forward — in fact, opposite to the second 

 or third rib. The first affluent which joins the azygos runs pai-allel 



* An interesting note upon certain points in the venous system of this Deerlet 

 (" The Postcava of an adult Indian Chevrotain, Tragulus meminna Erxleben," 

 Auat. Anz. Bd. xxix. 1906, p. 375), by Prof. McClure, has come into my hands 

 through the kindness of the author during the writing of the present memoir. In 

 this note it is remarked that, contrary to what is found in most mammals, hut 

 agreeing with the conditions observable in Dasj/pns, JEIeplias, and the Marsupials 

 (o-enerally), the postrenal division of the postcava lies directly ventrally to the aorta, 

 instead of dorsally and to one side. Dr. McClure naturally wonders if this is cha- 

 racteristic of Tmgulus meminna, or is abnormal. I looked into the matter carefully 

 in the three specimens upon which I have reported above, and find that Dr. McClure 

 lias discovered a perfectly normal character of this primitive Ifuminant. I may 

 furthermore point out that he iigures {loc. cit. fig. 2) the right renal vein as double 

 and the left as being single as well as much longer. I found this also to be the case 

 in the adult male and in the foetal male, but not in the adult female. 



