PLATANISTA. 493 



assuming areolar organization, with lymph corpuscles and oily particles inter- 

 mixed. Its special feature, however, was the presence of a vast number of 

 crystalline bodies, cubical, hexagonal, prismatic, needle-shaped and granular, pro- 

 bably related to glycogen or to dextrose. These were quite variable in size 

 and freely scattered within the areas and amongst the substance of the membrane 



itself. 



Belations of foetus to uterus (PL XXXI, fig. 1).— The foetus was wholly con- 

 fined to the left horn ; the right pole of the amnion resting, through its interposed 

 chorion, on the mesial septum (PI. XXXIV, fig. 1, pa.) which separates the 

 orifices of the two horns and form the wall of the right pole of the left horn. The 

 head of the foetus was turned away from the os uteri and lay in the left extremity 

 of the left horn with the tip of its snout immediately above the orifice of the 

 Pallopian tube of that side. The umbilicus was opposite the septum of the left 

 horn, which septum lay between the extremity of the tail and of the pectoral 

 flipper. The snout was at a considerably lower level than the tail. Prom behind 

 the vent, the caudal portion was curved forwards and to the right side, and bent 

 under the belly, so that the tip of the right caudal fin lay opposite the distal end 

 of the right pectoral flipper, but separated from it by the umbilical cord. The 

 caudal portion, so doubled on itself, was slightly below the level of the free margin 

 of the septal fold, or external lip of the orifice to the left horn, but it did 

 not reach to the common cavity of the uterus, because it was above the free 

 border of the common septum which marks the upper limit of the body of the 

 womb. 



It will be observed (PL XXXIII, fig. 1) that the foetus of Orcella had the 

 same relations to its uterine waU. 



Umbilical cord. — As it leaves the membranes the cord is bent on itself and then 

 runs for three inches to the right side of the space defined by the downward and 

 forward bending of the tail of the embryo under its belly. It then describes three 

 curves in rapid succession and, turning to the left, reaches the foetus in 2*50 inches. 

 It is altogether 10 inches long when extended. Its point of union with the mem- 

 branes is opposite to the septal fold of the left horn (PL XXXI, fig. 1, c). 



1 have already described various bodies superficially attached to the umbilical 

 cord of Orcella (ante, p. 403) and also some peculiarities in the vessels which 

 pass through it. In the cord of Platanista somewhat similar structural conditions 

 are found. 



On the surface of the cord here and there, but so numerous as to give a 

 roughened dotted character to it, are small elevated bodies, some as large as, and 

 others smaller than, a pin's head and distinct from the ordinary corpuscles of the 

 cord and more akin to the grey bodies I have described on the amnion. They are 

 more or less sohd and composed of a fibro-nucleated tissue arranged in a circle. 



As regards the vessels, the arteries are dilated at rather regular intervals, into 

 well marked sacs constricted off from each other, and communicating by narrow 

 channels (PL XXXIV, fig. 6). 



