2 F. J. F. Barrington, 



was seen in the ducts. Thomas [11] observed in human Bartholin's 

 glands stained with maci-carmine, that part of the gland cells gave an 

 intense mucin reaction and part none at all, while the secretion in the 

 ducts gave a reddish yellow colour, he supposed that either the macin 

 in the cells was not secreted as such, or that the cells witn no mucin 

 secreted another substance, which so diluted the mucin as to give the 

 secretion in the ducts the appearance he found: he considered the 

 latter more probable. 



The following observations have been chiefly made on the glands 

 of the cat, guinea-pig and rat. 



The glands are well marked in both sexes of the cat. In the guinea- 

 pig and rat Bartholin's glands appear to be either vestigial or entirely 

 absent, a rather remarkable circumstance considering the enormous 

 development of Cowper's glands in these animals. The gland figured 

 by Huguier [6] as the Bartholin's gland of the rat has a duct opening 

 at the side of the clitoris and the histological structure of a sebaceous 

 gland, it almost certainly has nothing to do with Bartholin's gland and 

 corresponds to the preputial gland present in the male. 



The glands were fixed in a sublimate-formol-acetic acid mixture 

 and cut in paraffin. Before staining the excess of sublimate was removed 

 from the sections with iodine and alcohol.- In the great majority of 

 cases muci-carmine was used for the demonstration of mucin, after the 

 section had been stained with Mallory's iron haematoxyhn, this 

 appeared to be the best mucin reagent. In many cases sections were stain 

 ed with thionin as well, and in a few of the earlier ones only this stain 

 was used. When large quantities of mucin were present freshly made 

 Weigert's elastic stain gave a grey coloration to it as well as to elastic 

 fibres: this stain was occasionally used followed by lithium carmine 

 to compare the amount of mucin in two glands where both contained 

 large quantities. 



I. Physiological Variations. 

 1. Bartholin's Glands in Oestrus. 

 Observations on this were confined entirely to the cat. The size 

 of the gland in the adult animal varied from that of a hempseed to 



