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Show 1877.] DR. WATSON ON THE ANATOMY OF HYAENA CROCUTA. 369 1. On the Female Generative Organs of Hycena crocuta. By M. WATSON, M.D., Professor of Anatomy, Owens College, Manchester. Communicated by A. H. GARROD, M.A. [Received April 11, 1877.] (Plates XL., XLI.) Before entering on the subject of this communication, I desire to state that to M r . A. H. Garrod is undoubtedly due the merit of having first recognized the peculiar characteristics of the female generative organs of Hycena crocuta, he having some time since examined a specimen which died in the Society's garden. The structure of these organs, however, struck him as so peculiar that he hesitated to publish the account of his dissection until such time as he should be able to verify his observations by the examination of a second specimen. Meanwhile I obtained the specimen the dissection of which furnishes the subject matter of this communication, and, feeling uncertain on account of the very unusual condition of the female organs whether they were to be regarded as normal, applied to Mr. Garrod for information. He at once in the most generous manner forwarded to me for comparison what remained of his own dissection, and, in the note which accompanied it, showed that he had clearly recognized the peculiarities in question. External parts. The appearance of the perineal region of the female Hycena crocuta is such as to have led m e in the first instance to believe the animal which I examined to be one of the opposite sex. This belief was based upon the following appearances :-(1) the absence of any well-marked vulva such as one generally sees in female Carnivora ; (2) the presence of an elongated pendulous penis-like body, surrounded by a prepuce, and having a glans perforated by a single canal; and (3) the presence of two projections below the anus, which at once called to mind the appearance of the scrotum in many Carnivora. I pass to the description of these parts. Clitoris.-The pendulous penis-like body, viewed in the light of the subsequent dissection, we must regard as the clitoris. It projects downwards and forwards from the level of the perineum, measures 2 inches in length and 1 inch in diameter, and consists of a central body, the glans clitoridis, which is surrounded by a thick fleshy prepuce. The colour of the glans is bluish toward the tip, where it is exposed, but flesh-coloured under cover of the prepuce. Its extremity is obliquely truncated from before backward, so that the posterior border of the glans is more prominent than the anterior. It is moreover perforated by a single canal of so small a size that one is at first sight induced to believe that he is dealing with the extremity of the male urethra, an error only corrected by an examination of the internal organs. The prepuce consists of a double PROC. ZOOL. Soc-1877, No. XXIV. 24 |