136 
J. P. HILL AND CHAS. H. o’dONOGHUE. 
and eosin. These sections were compared with those of 
pregnant and post-partuin uteri already in the possession 
of one of us_, whilst we also had access to the numerous 
preparations of ovaries and mammary glands of Dasyurus^ 
which formed the basis of the papers of O’Donoghue (20, 21) 
and Sandes (22) on the corpus luteum and the growth of the 
mammary apparatus. We are thus in the fortunate position 
of being able to take into consideration and to correlate the 
changes which occur during the cestral and pregnancy cycles 
in the several parts of the reproductive and^ accessory organs 
more accurately and in greater detail than, we believe, has 
yet been done for any Eutherian mammal. 
Akcestkus. 
The Australian native cat, Dasyurus viverrinus, is a 
small marsupial somewhat resembling a civet in external 
appearance. It is readily obtainable and fairly easy to keep 
alive and breed from in captivity. 
In the female, the poucld is a well-marked structure 
which, during the ancestral period, appears as a small,, 
somewhat circular depression, situated in the median line 
towards the posterior end of the abdomen. It is about 1(> 
mm. in diameter by 5 mm. in depth and its boundary is 
slightly less marked at the anterior end. The interior of the 
pouch, which in the resting animal is dry and dirty, contains 
as a rule six teats (vide 20). The teats are arranged in 
pairs on either side of the middle line and each teat has a 
thickened ledge around its base. The skin over the teat itself 
is generally free from the sebaceous glands characteristic of 
the skin as a whole, and which are particularly well marked in 
the lining of the pouch. Examination of sections through 
the teat shows that the ledge around its base marks the place 
where the sebaceous glands of the pouch leave off. The teat 
with its ledge is situated in a depression, which, in its turn, is 
surrounded by a raised ridge very nearly circular in shape. 
^ c.f. O. Katz, ‘ Zitschr. wiss.,’ Bd. xxxvi, 1882. 
