570 
PROF. W. TURNER ON THE PLACENTATION OF THE LEMURS. 
irregular anfractuosities, and the surface of the mucosa was hypertrophied, so as to 
form a caducous layer very analogous to that which, to a very feeble extent, adheres to 
the discoid placenta of the Apes, the Insectivora, and the Rodents. In the vicinity of 
the cervix uteri this hypertrophy gradually ceased, and the mucosa became quite smooth. 
The sac which in his first communication he described as the umbilical vesicle he now 
recognized to be the “ allantois.” In the genera Lepilemur and Hapalemur the placenta 
was similarly constructed, hut the villi were less compact. In Cheirogaleus the placenta 
was also bell-shaped, but extended over almost the entire surface of the ovum. 
In these memoirs M. Milne-Edwards, whilst regarding the form of the placenta as 
peculiar, though approximating to that of the Carnivora, is obviously of opinion that, 
like the placenta in the higher mammals, it possessed a decidua. 
Since their publication, however, M. Milne-Edwards appears to have modified, in a 
very material manner, his views regarding the placentation of the Lemurs. In a private 
communication made to Mr. St. George Mivart, and referred to by that anatomist in 
an essay on the zoological rank of the Lemuroidea*, these animals are said to have no 
decidua, and to possess a diffused placenta. No additional observations are detailed, and 
no explanation is given of the reason why so decided a change of opinion has been 
arrived at. 
In none of his communications does M. Milne-Edwards enter into the minute struc- 
ture of the placenta, or refer to the relations of the utricular glands to the maternal part 
of the organ, or describe the condition of the maternal vascular system. The indefinite 
position in which, not only the form of the placenta, but its minute structure have been 
left by the only anatomist who has had the opportunity of examining the gravid uteri 
of the Lemurs has rendered necessary a reexamination of the organ. 
Being desirous of contributing to the solution of this question, I wrote to my friend 
Dr. Andrew Davidson, of Antananarivo, Physician to the Court of Madagascar, to whom 
I had been indebted on a former occasion for valuable specimens in illustration of the 
zoology of Madagascar, and requested him to procure for me, if possible, some Lemurs 
in the gravid condition. Dr. Davidson at once most cordially acceded to my request, 
and engaged a man to go into the forest to obtain the specimens, as these animals do 
not breed in confinement. As the ordinary mode of preserving the carcasses of small 
animals by immersion in spirit hardens the tissue and organs so as to interfere with their 
subsequent microscopic examination and minute injection, I suggested to Dr. Davidson 
that the abdominal cavity should be opened and filled with dry salt, and the carcasses 
packed in the same preservative, as I had found from experience that the most minute 
injections could be made of organs treated in this manner. 
On the 4th November, 1875, a box containing six carcasses of gravid Lemurs, preserved 
according to my directions, reached me. The skins were enclosed along with the car- 
casses, so that I was able to identify the animals. The animals sent were a specimen of 
Indris brevicaudatus, one of Propithecus diadema, and four of Lemur rujipes. For the 
* Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1873, p. 504. 
