222 VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 



skin called the prepuce projects over it. A small bone is present 

 just above the urethra, near its distal end. 



The female genital organs are the following: a pair of geni- 

 tal glands called the ovaries, which produce the ova ; a pair of 

 efferent ducts, which receive the ova and in which the young go 

 through their fetal development ; and the urogenital sinus. Each 

 efferent duct is composed of the Fallopian tube, the uterus, and 

 the vagina. 



The ovaries are small, bean-shaped bodies, less than half an 

 inch long, which lie a short distance back of the kidneys, near 

 the dorsal body wall. Each is held in place by a broad mesentery, 

 the ligamentum uteri, which passes from the uterus to the dorsal 

 body wall and holds the ovary in one of its folds. The narrow 

 ligamentum ovarii joins it with the ventral body wall. Examine 

 the ovary with a hand lens and note the fine white points which 

 give its surface a granular appearance; these are the Graafian 

 follicles, in each of which is an ovum. Corpora lutea (follicles 

 which have discharged their ova) may also be present, and will 

 appear as red elevations. 



The anterior end of the efferent duct is the Fallopian tube, or 

 oviduct. It is a narrow, convoluted tube, with a very wide, open 

 anterior end, called the ostium, the fluted edges of which are partly 

 thrown around the ovary and catch the ova as they emerge. The 

 posterior end of the Fallopian tube is continuous with the uterus. 

 The two uteri are united at their hinder ends, forming thus a 

 large, Y-shaped structure consisting of a posterior, median portion, 

 or body, and an anterior, paired portion composed of two horns, 

 which extend from the body to the Fallopian tubes. The posterior 

 end of the uterus projects into the vagina, forming the cervix uteri, 

 or neck of the uterus. The uterus is attached to the dorsal body 

 wall mainly by the ligamentum uteri. 



The vagina extends from the uterus to the urogenital sinus ; it 

 lies beneath the rectum and just above the neck of the bladder. 

 The urogenital sinus is a short, wide tube which opens to 

 the outside through the vulva, immediately beneath the anus. The 

 opening into it of the neck of the bladder is ventral to that of the 

 vagina. Arising from the floor of the sinus, just beneath this 



