716 MR. F. E. BEDDARD ON THE [Dec. 4, 



epigastric vein. Some years since I described ■ in the Echidna " a 

 large vein running along the ventral wall of the body in very close 

 connection with it," which I identified with the Anterior Abdo- 

 minal Vein of the lower Vertebrata, and regarded as a persistent 

 Allantoic Vein, persistent nowhere else among the Mammalia. 



I am not quite certain whether Prof. Gegenbaur 2 actually saw 

 this vein himself two years later. But in any case he quotes its 

 existence to emphasize the remoteness of the Monotremata from 

 other Mammalia — " den Besitz einer Abdominalvene theilen sie 

 mit Eeptilien." This sentence seems to imply an agreement 

 between Echidna and Ornithorhynchus, which is not the fact, as our 

 principal authority upon the vascular system of the Vertebrata, 

 Prof. Hochstetter, has quite recently pointed out 8 . In the paper 

 referred to, the author entirely confirms my discovery of the vein 

 in Echidna, without entirely pledging himself to the comparisons 

 made by me. He examined Ornithorhynchus with quite negative 

 results. If the vein in question were present in that animal and 

 happened to be turgid with blood, it could hardly, judging from 

 my experience of Echidna, be missed, even in a spirit-specimen. 

 But if not in this favourable state, it might conceivably be 

 passed over. The matter therefore appeared to be worth looking 

 into again, particularly since Prof. Howes has dealt with it from 

 a far different point of view. 



Prof. Howes 4 has recently directed attention to the matter 

 in connection with the visceral anatomy of the Australian Torpedo, 

 Hypnos subnigrum. He considers that the falciform ligament of 

 the liver in mammals is a vestige of the continuous ventral 

 mesentery preserved in the Dipnoi and Amphibia, and remarks as 

 follows 5 :— " Beddard has briefly described (P. Z. S. 1884, p. 553) 

 a median epigastric vein in the adult Echidna. It is most desirable 

 that the relationships of this vessel should be more fully worked 

 out, I cannot reconcile with this the belief (Balfour, Comp. 

 Embryology, vol. ii. p. 623) ' that the falciform ligament is not a 

 remnant of a primitive ventral mesentery.' Beddard's discovery 

 would appear to me fatal to this consideration, and it calls for a 

 re-investigation of the matter." 



My investigation of the fresh Ornithorhynchus fully bears out 

 Prof. Hovves's criticism of the late Prof. Balfour's opinion of the 

 falciform ligament. I am also able to confirm Hochstetter's 

 statement that the epigastric vein is wanting in Ornithorhynchus. 

 The confirmation is of some little importance, as it might con- 



1 "Note on the Presence of an Anterior Abdominal Vein in Echidna" 

 P. Z. S. 1884, p. 553. 



2 ' Zur Kenntniss der Mammarorgane der Monotremen.' Leipzig, 1886. 



3 " Ueber die Entwickluug der Abdominalvene bei Salamandra maculata," 

 Morpb. Jahrb. xxi. 1894, p. 26. 



4 " On tbe Visceral Anatomy of the Australian Torpedo (Ht/pnos subnigrum), 

 witb especial reference to the Suspension of tbe Vertebrate Alimentary Canal," 

 P. Z. S. 1890, p. 669. 



5 hoc. cit. p. 673, footnote. 



