672 
POLYDACTYLISM IN THE CAT. 
time she has not become pregnant. The female of the 
generation marked a is still living, and has had several 
litters. Such of the kittens as have become polydactylous 
have always been in great request. Notwithstanding the 
fragmentary character of this record, its publication may 
have interest for teratologists, and the facts will be the 
better available for comparison if the principal features are 
tabulated. 
Generation. 
Bather. 
Mother. 
Remarks. 
A.—One of the la¬ 
ter pregnancies. 
Mother still liv¬ 
ing 
Digits 
probably 
normal 
Digits 7 on each 
fore foot and 6 
on each hind 
foot 
Said to have had 5 or 6 
kittens, some being poly¬ 
dactylous. One of the 
progeny is represented by 
B. One of males was si¬ 
milarly malformed. 
B. — First preg¬ 
nancy. Mother 
under observa¬ 
tion 
Second pregnancy. 
Mother since des¬ 
troyed 
Digits 
normal 
Digits 
normal 
Digits 7 on each 
foot in front and 
6 on each be¬ 
hind 
Had 2 kittens, both of them 
being malformed. One of 
these is the mother in 
generation C. 
The uterus contained 7 foe¬ 
tuses, of which three were 
polydactylous. 
C. — First preg¬ 
nancy. Mother 
since destroyed 
Digits 
normal 
Digits 6 on each 
fore foot and 5 
on each hind 
foot 
Had 2 kittens, both of which 
were hexadactylous in 
front and normal behind. 
But for other occupations I should have prevented the 
destruction of any of the members of the last generation, and 
thus have pushed the investigation further. Teratologically 
speaking, the anatomical facts can hardly fail to present 
points of interest. To add completeness, therefore, to the 
record of the results of the post-mortem I requested my 
colleague, Mr. Steel, to dissect out the muscles and 
tendons. This he obligingly consented to do and also 
supplied me with the following important “ notes” of the 
facts observed. 
It will be understood that the details here added refer to 
the female cat of the generation marked b in the table above 
given. Her malformed foetuses have been handed over to a 
practical microscopist, Mr. J. J. Hunter, who is skilful in 
mounting anatomical sections. 
