
PROFESSOR TURNER ON THE PLACENTATION OF THE SEALS. 303* 
ADDENDUM, Novemser 4. 
Since the preceding pages were printed off, I have succeeded in obtaining 
for examination the uterus of a cat, killed five hours after giving birth to four 
kittens, so that Iam now able to supplement my description of the placenta- 
tion of this animal by stating what is the post-partum condition of its uterus. 
The uterus was contracted, and the mucous lining thrown into well-defined 
ruge. Each placental area was a narrow zonular trench, bounded at each 
margin of the zone by a fold of the mucosa. The surface of the non-placental 
part of the mucosa was unbroken and covered by epithelium. The surface of the 
placental zone was blood-stained, and with a number of shreds of membrane 
_ hanging from it, so that it had a torn and flocculent appearance. When thin 
flakes were removed from the surface of the placental zone, and examined 
microscopically, they were seen to consist of multitudes of free red blood cor- 
puscles, of very delicate fibres of connective tissue, intermingled with which 
_ were fusiform and lymph-like corpuscles, and here and there a patch of cells, 
evidently epithelium. A series of vertical sections was then made through the 
placental area and adjacent non-placental part of the mucosa, and examined 
with low and high magnifying objectives. The free edge of the section in the 
non-placental area was covered by a well-defined layer of columnar epithelium, 
deeper than which was a thick layer of sub-epithelial connective tissue, inter- 
vening between the epithelium and the muscular coat. Lying vertically in this 
connective tissue were numerous utricular glands, which opened on the free 
surface of the mucosa, and were lined by columnar epithelium. 
In the placental area itself the surface epithelium was absent, and the free 
edge of the section had not a smooth outline, but was irregular, and with 
slender filaments of connective tissue projecting from it. The thickness of the 
connective tissue layer on the surface of the muscular coat was appreciably 
less (on the average about one-third) than in the non-placental area. In this 
connective tissue sections through utricular glands were seen. Some of these 
sections were transverse to the tube of the gland, others oblique, others almost 
longitudinal. The epithelial lining of the glands was present, and it is not 
unlikely that the occasional patch of cells found on the surface of the placental 
area may have belonged to the glands and not to the surface epithelium. In 
more than one of the sections I saw in the placental area gland structures, 
which had not the form of cylindrical tubes, but were somewhat irregularly 
dilated. Numerous blood-vessels, which were the vascular trunks going to the 
placenta, were also seen plugged with collections of blood corpuscles. 
From this description it will be seen that in the normal separation of the 
VOL. XXVII. PART IIL. <r 
