272 



Dr. M. Watson. 



evidently with the cobalt salts many, and it may be the most important, 

 bands lie in the nltra-red. All the above spectra and many more have 

 been drawn from direct and repeated observations, but obviously it is 

 not intended to claim any originality for them ; many have been 

 described before. 



My best thanks are due to my assistant, Mr. W. Lapraik, for the help 

 he has given me in carrying out these investigations, which have 

 extended over a considerable length of time. 



" On the Female Organs and Placentation of the Racoon (Pro- 

 ci/on lotor)." By M. Watson, M.D., Professor of Anatomy, 

 Owens College, Manchester. Communicated by Professor 

 Huxley, Sec. R.S. Received December 30, 1880. Read 

 January 20, 1881. 



[Plates 3—6.] 



Of late years our knowledge concerning the form and structure of 

 the placenta, as well as of the arrangement of the foetal membranes 

 in various species of mammals has been much extended through the 

 researches of Milne-Edwards, Ercolani, Turner, and others. The 

 observations of these anatomists have not been confined to the 

 placentation of any one group, but extend to that of species belonging 

 to every Mammalian order. Among these orders that of the Carnivora 

 has received a not inconsiderable share of attention, not only from 

 the observers just named, but also from those among whom may be 

 mentioned the names of Daubenton, Yon Baer, Bischoff, and others 

 who appeared earlier in the field. Among the members of the 

 fissiped group of Carnivora, the placenta or foetal membranes, or 

 both, have been described in the marten (Martes domestica)* stone 

 marten (Mustela foina),\ pine marten (Mustela martes),% weasel 

 (Mustela vulgaris), § ferret (Mustela furo) ,\\ bitch (Cams familiar is), ^[ 

 fox (Ganis vuljoes),** cat (Felis domestica) ,ff lioness (Felis leo),%% 

 hyaena (sp. ?),§§ and otter (Lutra vulgaris), \\ || whilst among the 



* Buffon's " Histoire JNTaturelle," vol. vii, p. 81, PI. XX. 



f Bischoff, " Sitzungsber. Akad. Wissenscli.," Miinchen, May 13, 1865. 



X Idem, p. 343. 



§ Idem, p. 343. 



|| Buffon's " Histoire TSTaturelle," vol. vii, p. 105, PI. XXVII, 



Bischoff, " Entwickelungs-geschichte des Hunde-Eies." Von Baer, " Entwick- 

 elungs-geschichte der Thiere," 2ter Theil, p. 238. 



## Turner, " Trans. Koy. Soc. Edin.," vol. xxvii, p. 297. 



ft Turner, " Lectures on the Comparative Anatomy of the Placenta," p. 72. 



XX Owen, " Anatomy of Vertebrates," vol. iii, p. 744. 



§§ Ibid., p. 744. 



[HI Bischoff, " Sitzungsber. Akad. Wissensch.," Miinchen, March 4, 1865, p. 213. 



