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Show 422 DR. M. WATSON ON THE MALE [Apr. 16? tion of these glands in the latter sex I pointed out that in respect them H. crocuta agrees more closely with Proteles than with any species of its own genus, and may merely add that the present dissection has enabled me to confirm Dr. Murie's observation x that in the male animal as in the female an anal-gland pouch is present. Mr. Busk 2 had previously convinced himself " that no trace of a pouch between the root of the tail and the anus exists, at any rate in the male of this species;" and Dr. Murie, in deference to Prof. Kaup's3 attempt to classify the Hyaenas in accordance with the presence or absence of this pouch, was not prepared to deny that it might occasionally be absent in the male. I think this matter may now be considered settled, and may merely observe that Goldsmith 4 appears to have been aware of the presence of this pouch in every species of Hyaena before any of the authors referred to had written on the subject. With reference to the male organs of allied species, I find that Daubenton5 describes and figures those of H. striata ; and these are also referred to by John Hunter6 and Owen7. Cuvier8 gives an account of the male organs of Hyseua without indicating the species to which they belong ; but from the agreement between his observations and those of the authors just named, I presume that H. striata formed the subject of his investigations. Of the male organs of H. brunnea, so far as 1 can ascertain, we know nothing; but of those of the closely allied genus Proteles, Prof. Flower * gives an accurate description. H. striata and Proteles agree with II. crocuta with respect to the form and position of the scrotum, the form of the testicle, and the absence of vesiculae seminales, whilst they differ from the last-named species in the possession of a prostate gland. Mr. Flower, it is true, refers to the presence of a prostate gland in H. crocuta10; but of the absence of this in the specimen I examined I was careful to convince myself; and until further observations are made, it is impossible to reconcile these opposing statements regarding a matter of fact. In H. striata the prostate is large and consists of two kidney-shaped lobes, whilst in Proteles it consists of a single mass of large size having " the appearance of a bilobed disk." Cowper's glands are large and of the same form in all three species, which likewise agree in the form of the bladder and the very muscular character of the ureters. With respect to the vesicula pros-tatica, Leuckart11 describes and figures it in H. striata as a minute flask-shaped cul-de-sac projecting beyond the urethral wall and lying in the interval between the lobes of the prostate. He says, moreover, that in that animal it does not open into the urethra. 1 Trans. Zool. Soc. vii. p. 503. 2 Journ. Proc. Linn. Soc. vol. ix. p. 71. 3 Isis, 1828, p. 1144. 4 Animated Nature, " Hyama." " Buffon's Hist, Nat. torn. ix. 6 ' Essays and Observations,' by Owen, vol. ii. p. 58. 7 'Anatomy of Vertebrates,' vol. iii. p. 671. 8 'Anatomic Comparee,' vol. v. 9 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1869, p. 401. i° Ibid. p. 493. 11 ' Cyclopaedia of Anatomy,' vol. iv. Art, "Vesicula prostatica." |