FEMALE GENITAL SYSTEM: INTERNAL ORGANS 



401 



The ovaries 

 The ovaries in the 2-1 m. foetus were compact bodies with flat bounding surfaces 

 (Figs. 12, 13) marked by a great number of irregular grooves and sulci. They were 

 nearly rectangular, but slightly curved along their ligamentous attachments and tending 

 to taper posteriorly. The measurements (in cm.) of the ovaries in the 2-1 m. foetus were 

 as follows: 



In adolescent whales the ovaries are rounded in outline and of greater length in 

 comparison with their breadth. The superficial sulci increase greatly in number and 

 have many smaller and smaller ramifications so as to produce a crinkled appearance 

 termed "bramble marking" by Mackintosh and Wheeler (1929, p. 383). In whales 

 approaching sexual maturity the sulci and "bramble markings" tend to disappear, but 

 the surface becomes covered with rounded protuberances formed by ripening 

 follicles, and later, in mature whales, by the hard knob-like corpora lutea. Mackintosh and 

 Wheeler (1929, pp. 382-96) and Wheeler (1930) have dealt fully with the physiology of 

 the ovaries. 



The ovaries lie obliquely in the abdominal cavity (Fig. 12c), their rostral extremities 

 lying nearer to the middle line than their caudal. Their position is not quite symmetrical 

 in the body cavity, since the left ovary lies slightly anterior to the right, and, owing to the 

 more posterior position of the left kidney compared with that on the right side of the 

 body, the left ovary with its ligaments covers a correspondingly greater portion of the 



a. 

 b. 

 c. 

 d. 

 e. 



f 1 - 

 f 2 - 



P- 

 / 4 - 



1. 

 J 1 - 

 f- 

 f. 

 k 1 . 

 k 2 . 



Fig. 12. Internal genitalia of a female 

 Kidney. 



Plica diaphragmatica. 

 Ovary. 

 Oviduct. 



Ligamentum teres uteri. 

 Uterine cornu. 



Median backwardly projecting septum at union 

 of cornua. 

 Corpus uteri. 



Folds of vaginal wall. • 



Smooth walled part of vagina. 

 Ligamentum latum. 

 Ureter. 



Inguinal lymph glands. 

 Hypogastric arteries. 

 Epigastric artery. 

 Pudic artery and vein. 

 Common iliac artery and vein. 

 Venous trunk running in the inguinal plexus. 



Fin whale foetus 2-1 m. in length. 

 k 3 . Lumbar vein. 



1 1 . Caudal attachment of the rectus abdominis 

 muscle. 



1 2 . Iliac attachment of the rectus abdominis 

 muscle. 



/ 3 . Superficial attachment of the rectus abdominis 



muscle. 

 / 4 . Levator ani muscle. 

 Z 5 . Ischio-caudalis muscle. 

 I 6 . Hypaxial muscle. 



P. Ischio-cavemosus muscle (erector clitoridis). 

 m. Mammary gland and compressor mammae 



muscle. 

 n. Urinary duct, 

 o. Pelvic rudiment. 

 p. Rectum. 

 q. Bladder. 

 r. Clitoris, 

 s. Vulva. 



