72 ' Translation from Purkinje 



speak* except in the lowest part of the oviduct where, passing over 

 into the uterus, it is constricted for the extent of about 2 thumbs' 

 breadth. -f- Here perfectly distinct longitudinal muscle fibers extend 

 from the uterus and they promptly vanish in the region where the 

 oviduct widens out again. The uterus itself is covered by a double 

 muscular layer. In the external layer the fibers run in a longitudinal 

 direction from the end of the oviduct to the beginning of the vagina; 

 in the internal layer they encircle the meinbrane which secretes the 

 shell for the egg. Longitudinal fibers also predominate in the vagina; 

 the circular fibers are rather g^^thered together into its sphincter. The 

 vagina and infundibulum are remarkably distensible where the canals 

 are almost wholly muscular, so that by gradually dilating them you 

 can easily introduce several fingers. Here distensibility has been asso- 

 ciated with contractility, since they are adapted to the moving for- 

 ward of bodies and, at the same time, holding them without their 

 escaping although they are close to the external openings. 



§9 



Concerning the taking up of the 



ovarian egg by the infundibulum of the oviduct.;]; 



The further history of the mature ovule may now be considered 

 [^ 13 ] in the hope that it may throw light upon a field so buried in darkness. 

 At the time when the yolk has attained the requisite size, the peduncle 

 of the calyx is elongated to such an extent that, moving back between 

 viscera and ovary, it touches the opening of the infundibulum. If, 

 after removing all the viscera, you look at the ovule hanging from 

 the ovary, you will see its less rounded surfaces turned to right and 

 left, the stigma however looking downward. But if you now replace 

 the viscera, they press the ovule to the mouth of the oviduct in such 

 a way that the flattened parts are turned up and down, whereas the 

 stigma is actually kissed by the mouth of the infundibulum. The 

 muscular structure and well known mobility of the infundibulum 



* [Footnote added in 1830.] These longitudinal fibers are simply folds of the in- 

 ternal albumen-secreting membrane of the oviduct, which shimmer through the 

 serous membrane and muscle as very delicate lines. Once these membranes have 

 been dra^vn aside, it appears to be easy to smooth out the folds of the secretory 

 membrane by opening up the folds with a spatula. 



f [Footnote added, 1830.] The isthmus of the oviduct I would term it. This part, 

 as I have said, is adapted for the secretion of the shell membrane. While the ovum, 

 now surrounded with albumen, is entering the beginning of the isthmus, the first 

 part [of the albumen] is compressed by the resistance of the walls as it enters and 

 thus the sharp end of the egg is moulded; as its journey continues, the passage is 

 already dilated so that the albumen is rounded off at the blunter end; in this 

 constriction we should perhaps look for the [origin of the] narrower strand of 

 albumen which they call the ligament of Tredern. 



X See Spangenberg (as cited), p. 59 and following. 



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