Studies in embryology of the Felis domestica

Abstract

The following account is a description of various observations made during a study of Reproduction in the Domestic Cat. It includes the development of the embryo and foetus, the embryonic membrane and appendages, and also the character of the maternal reproductive organs at various stages of pregnancy. Although these investigations have produced by no means a complete history of any of the structures mentioned, the material obtained was sufficient to enable the writer to state the general facts of this particular type of mammalian reproduction, and to make comparisons with other types which have been more carefully investigated. The cat is so common an animal, and its material so easy to handle, that one would expect all work in this direction to have been carried to completion. This does not seem to be the case, however. Knowledge of the subject is fragmentary and incomplete; and several points have arisen even in this brief study which indicate that the cat might hold a place of considerable importance from a standpoint of comparative embryology.