420 THE PLACENTA AND GENERATIVE 



GENERATIVE APPARATUS. 



The female generative apparatus of the Indian elephant is described by Hun- 

 ter,* Mayer,f and Miall and Greenwood.^ That of the African elephant by 

 Perrault§ and Forbes.|l Having had the opportunity of examining the generative 

 apparatus of the African elephant, which died at the Philadelphia Zoological Gar- 

 den last July, and being at that time unacquainted with Mr. Forbes' description, 

 which was read to the London Zoological kSociety, April 23d, I took several meas- 

 urements on the spot, and having preserved the specimen in spirits, it occurred to 

 me that it would be interesting to supplement the description of the placenta with 

 that of the generative organs. It is true that the placenta is of one species and 

 the organs of another; but the difference in the sexual organs of the Indian and 

 African elephants is so slight that the description of the one serves very well for 

 that of the other. I state this not only from the observations of the anatomists 

 cited above, but from an examination I made in August, 1874, of an Indian ele- 

 phant known to be over one hundred years old, which also died at the Zoological 

 Garden. The alimentary apparatus was shown at one of the meetings of the Acad- 

 emy, and described. The cause of death in that case was cancer of the uterus and 

 urogenital canal; and disease had so obscured the parts that I did not venture to 

 interpret them at that time. On comparing the structures with the healthy ones 

 of the African elephant I am satisfied that they agreed in all essential respects. 



In the African elephant, which was about half grown, I found the vulva situ- 

 ated two feet anteriorly from the anus. It led into a passage that I believe should 

 be called the urogenital canal, inasmuch as it serves to transmit the generative 

 products and the urine (PI. 50, i). This canal measured 36 inches in length and 

 28 inches in circumference, and was lined with a mucous membrane exhibiting 

 rugse. Just within the vulva the glans of the clitoris was quite apparent with 

 its prepuce (PI. 50, m). The clitoris measured 15 inches. The crura are attached 

 to the rami of the pubis^ (PI. 50, /). At the upper end of the urogenital canal 

 may be seen together three openings, the middle one large enough to admit only 

 one's finger (PI. 50, g), leading into what seems to be homologous with the vagina; 



* Essays, edited by Prof. Owen. London, 1861. 



t Nova Acta, vol. 23, 1847. 



t Journal of Anatomy and Ph'ysiology, 1879, vol. 13. 



§ Mem. de I'Acad. des Sciences, tom. iii., 1734. 



II Proceedings of Zoological Society, 1879. 



T[ I noticed also the muscles corresponding to the levatores penis in the male. 



