394 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST.  [Vor. XXXIX. 
where it leaves the aorta, and they pass anteriad to terminate in 
the corresponding ducts of Cuvier, close to the venous sinus. 
The cardinals may arise from the postcava either separately or 
by a short common trunk. According to Miller (:00), the latter 
condition is the more usual. Posteriorly the cardinals anasto- 
mose with the renal portals, which have been omitted from the 
figure as not bearing upon the abnormalities here considered. 
The hepatic veins are variable in number, size, and termination ; 
but Miller finds that two are larger and more constant than the 
others. One joins the postcava near the center, the other at 
the anterior end, of the liver. It is to be noted that in .Sa/a- 
mandra maculosa there is normally but one large hepatic vein, 
which is in the left half of the liver (Hochstetter). 
In the abnormal case (Fig. 2) the postcava arose normally 
between the kidneys, but instead of entering the liver, it became 
continuous anteriorly with a large and apparently median vessel 
which passed directly anteriad along the dorsal body wall to the 
heart, without receiving any hepatic veins. The end toward the 
heart lay somewhat to the right of the median plane and entered 
the venous sinus from the right side. The hepatics were two . 
very large symmetrical veins, superficial on the ventral side of 
the liver for their entire length, one on each side of the suspen- 
sory ligament. They united at the anterior end of the liver to 
form a short, bulbous trunk, the anterior end of which was 
directly continuous with the venous sinus. The left hepatic 
vein was fairly straight and arose from the posterior end of the 
liver, where it received a small superficial tributary from the 
right side of the posterior border. The right one, of about the 
same size, was more irregular in its course. Its beginning was 
imbedded in the substance of the liver on the right side of its 
posterior extremity. Both received small hepatic branches 
within the liver, as was shown by sectioning. 
About one centimeter posterior to the venous sinus and to 
the left of the median plane, there arose from the body wall a 
small vein formed by the union of two short branches. In its 
course posteriad it gradually approached the large median vein 
described above and passed along its dorsal surface, to which it 
was intimately attached. Its size increased slightly as it passed 
