510 MR. F. E. BEDDARD ON THE [Apr. 27, 
the main postcaval trunk. On one side I found a small vein which 
T regard as lumbar; but I could see nothing on the other side. 
On the other hand, an additional vein to the ovary was connected 
with the postcavals far down and in the pelvic region close to the 
ovaries. The postcaval becomes a double vein some way after 
the renals and the position of the point of bifurcation seems to be 
much as in Zatusia kapplerit. I have no notes as to a caudal 
plexus in this Armadillo, and I do not think that I should have 
failed to note it were the plexus present. At the same time I 
feel unable to assert positively that it is absent. 
It is clear, therefore, from what has been said and from a 
comparison of the facts which I am able to bring forward here 
with those noted by other observers, that the Armadillos as a 
family are to be characterised by the invariable presence of a 
divided posteaval, but the actual point at which the division 
occurs differs. Again, in all Armadillos the sexual veins are 
symmetrical and connected with the renals, while accessory veins 
to the gonads are not invariably present; when present they 
occur some way down the postcava and are symmetrical, The 
caudal plexus is not universal, but is characteristic of the genus 
Dasypus alone of those examined. 
While it appears to be clear, from the investigations of Hyrtl™, 
Hochstetter 7, and myself %, that the divided postcaval vein is a 
clistinctive feature of the Ar madillos, occurring, without exceptions 
as to species or individuals, in all of the four genera which are at 
the present time known, the facts are otherwise among the 
Insectivora. In both Hrinaceus algirus and EH. europeus there 
is a single postcaval vein which is undivided until it divides in 
the eral way to form the two iliac arteries, or there may be 
(Z. ewropeus) a divided posteaval as in Centetes. On the other 
hand, in the genus Centetes the postcaval vein is broadly as in the 
Armadillos, though, as will be seen presently, there are differences. 
Tn Erinaceus algirus—to commence with the simpler form seen in 
Insectivora—the renals are asymmetrical, the left lying, as is the 
rule in such cases, below the right vein. The left suprarenal vein 
opens into the left renal and just above the entry into the latter 
vein of the ovarian vein which runs down along the ureter. The 
corresponding ovarian vein of the right side enters the postcaval 
at a point about on a level with the entrance of the left renal: 
there is thus a kind of symmetry in the ovarian veins such as 
occurs in other animals, for instance in Lagostomus trichodactyluss, 
Paradoxurus her maphr oditus |, «we. The two lumbar parietal 
veins, so constant among mammals, open symmetrically into the 
iliac veins just below the partition of the postcaval. 
In an example of Hrinaceus europeus I observed a slight 
difference from the state of affairs here recorded in Z#. algirus, 
which I do not for a moment attribute to specific differences, but 
* Denkschr. Ak. Wien, 1855. + Morph. Jahrb. xx. t Supra. 
§ Vide p. 516 of the present communication. 
|| Beddard on Galidia &c., P. Z. S. 1909, p. 489. 
