The awn and the fur hair of Pudu were investigated. Values of the length are between 14 and 56 mm for the awn hair, and 9 to 36 mm for the fur hair. Hair thickness--especially at the thickest point--ranges from 140 to 236 microns for the awn hair and from 19 to 106 microns for the fur hair. The values of the cuticle scales are between 12 and 18 microns for the length and between 41 and 66 microns for the width. The shape of the scales is rectangular in the basal three quarters (R) and becomes crenated (R/Z) in the apical quarter. The medulla is continuous with large hollow vesicles. The similarity to the hair of european red deer is surprising.

Summary Light and electron microscopical study of the vesicular gland of the bull The vesicular glands of six adult bulls were studied grossly and with the microscope. Corrosion casts (of the duct system) examined with the dissecting microscope and the SEM clearly showed that the gland was tubulo‐alveolar. The light microscope showed two rows of tall glandular cells. The basal epithelial cells (termed “dwarf lipid‐cells”) contained uni‐ as well as plurivacuolar lipid droplets. In the tall glandular cells fine lipid droplets were seen mainly in the supranuclear cytoplasm. Electron microscopical examinations permit division of the tall glandular cells into three compartments, shown in a semischematic drawing. The results of this study allow the conclusion that the basal “fat cells” and the peroxysomes of the tall glandular cells are related to the formation of prostaglandins.

SummaryComparative examinations on the hairs of laboratory animalsIn the white mouse the bristle hairs were on the average 8mm, in the awn hairs 7mm, and the fur hairs 6.5mm long. The values for the white rat were 19mm for the bristle hairs, 11mm for the awn hairs, and 7mm for the fur hairs; they were thus markedly longer. The hairs of the guinea‐pig and of the rabbit were two‐ and three times as long. Hair thickness—especially at the thickest point—was distinctly different for the bristle and awn hairs, while these measurements of the fur hairs did not differ very much among these species. The size of the cuticle scales did not differ much between mouse, rat and rabbit. The medulla of the bristle and awn hairs of mouse and rat and that of the awn hair of the guinea‐pig looked similar. However, the medulla of the rabbit was easily distinguished from the other species. The medulla of the fur hairs was constricted only in the mouse and rat. It is possible to identify with certainty the hairs of these four species if complete hair samples are available and if the microscopic measurements given here are taken into consideration.

Twenty formalin fixed animals, nine male and eleven female, belonging to the genus Octodon degus (Molina 1782) were examined as to the topography of the cecum and ascending colon (Colon ascendens). The cecum shows differing forms and positions. The position of the Caput ceci is normally on the left side, directed cranially or caudally. Besides its topography on the left side, it can extend over the median level to the right side or remain with caput and corpus on the right, while the apex appears on the left side in front of the entry to the pelvis. Further findings were that the ascending colon (Colon ascendens) is arranged in two superimposed, often spiral folds, which may differ as to their form and extension, depending on the position of the cecum.

Histological discrimination of hair are used among other investigations to identify animals and only parts of them. Samples of hair of 5 pigs (Deutsche Landrasse), 6 Hanford‐ minipigs and 3 wild boars were examined by scanning electron microscope. The surface ofhair with its specific damages leads to a certain discrimination.