ON HERMAPHRODITISM IN A LIZARD. 



223 



12. A Case of Hermaphroditism in a Lizard, Lacerta viridis. 

 By Noel Tayler, B.Sc. (Lond.).* (From the Zoo- 

 logical Department, University of London, University 

 College.) 



[Received April 23, 1918 : Read May 28, 1918.] 



(Text-figures 1-3.) 



The specimen, the urogenital system of which is described in 

 the following pages, was placed in my hands by Prof. J. P. Hill, 

 F.K.8. It turned up in the course of class- work in the Senior 

 Laboratory in the College, and its abnormal condition being 

 observed, it was fixed in corrosive sublimate and preserved for 

 detailed examination. The specimen presents certain features 

 of interest which, it is believed, are worthy of being placed 

 on record. 



I wish to express my thanks to Prof. Hill for his advice and 

 assistance in the preparation of these pages. 



I. Descriptive. 

 a. General Morphology. 



When this specimen came into my hands, it was in a partly 

 dissected condition, the greater portion of the abdominal viscera 

 having been removed. 



The Fat Bodies were present and well developed, the right 

 being rather larger than the left. They are not represented, 

 however, in text-fig. 1, which gives a general view of the 

 urogenital system, since in situ they obscured the more anterior 

 portions of the oviducts. 



The testes (text-fig. 1, R.T. and L.T.) were well developed and 

 suspended in the folds of the longitudinal mesorchia (Ales.). 

 The right was placed somewhat more anteriorly and was rather 

 larger than the left, the dimensions of the former being about 

 •9 cm. x '4 cm., and of the latter '65 cm. x *3 cm. 



Both gonads seem normal in shape apart from the remarkable 

 stalked outgrowths on each (Ov.). These on section were found 

 to contain ova, and the gonads may therefore properly he 

 designated ovotestes. The right gonad, it will be seen, possessed 

 two of these spherical ovarian appendages, each joined to the 

 dorso-lateral border of the testicular portion of the organ by a 

 well-marked stalk; the more anterior was further sub divided 

 into two by a median constriction. 



The left gonad also possessed two outgrowths, the surface of 

 the larger being subdivided into five or six hemispherical pro- 

 jections. The epididymes were well developed (L.E-p., R.Ep.) 



* Communicated by Prof. J. P. Hill, D.Sc, F.R.S., F.Z.S. 



