^A'L4 TOMY OF BIRDS 



325 



the chick ; for all said thus far only relates to the Ijringing of the 

 spermatozoiJu into contact Avith the ovum, i^reliminary to the initial 

 stej) of the oA'ura in its course of development. It is this female 

 Dijnanvimceha — this primitive ovarian ovum, the germ of the chick, 

 which corresponds to and is the counterpart of the male Dyncm- 

 amcehd, on meeting and mingling with 

 Avhich fecundation is accomplished ; 

 the impregnated ovum being then em- 

 powered to take up its marvellous 

 march. Conjugation of the opposite 

 Dynamamcehcc occurs either in the 

 ovary or upper part of the oviduct — 

 most probably the former. One or 

 several spermatozoa — usually more 

 than one — accomplishing their journe}' 

 up the oviduct, and finding their 

 affinity, insinuate themselves into the 

 substance of the ovum, and die there, 

 dissolved in amorous pain ; that is to 

 say, they melt into the substance of 

 the ovum. The now fertile result, 

 consisting of the mingled protoplasm 

 of the o^Dposite amo?bas, is to all 

 appearance precisely the same as the 

 original infecund ovum — yet there is 

 all the difference in the world, as the 

 result shows. 



The general character of the ovary 

 of a bird has been already indicated Cam's. «, &, c, a, mass of ovarian ova^ 



, mi • • 1 „ . , in all stages of development ; 6, a ripe 



(p. 69). ihe pnncipal SUperncial one ; c, its stigma, where the ovisac or 



difference in appearance when the ci^x, ™ be^abUrtl^d^^/nS^ 



ovary is in functional activity from or funnel-shaped orifice of the oviduct ; 



•' . , /, next portion of oviduct ; rj, follicular 



the corresponding organ of a mammal, part of oviduct; to, mesometry, mem- 



. ,1 . ,1 1 1 J. 1 • brane steadying the oviduct the re- 



IS that the ova develop to SUCll a size, ference-llne, m, crosses the constricted 



in rinpnincr in tbp avi\rv bpfnrp Ipnvinrr part or isthmus of the oviduct; these 



m ripening in ine ovary oeioie leaving j^^^.^^ gge,.gte ^^e white of the egg; fc, 



it for the oviduct, that the organ looks shell-fonnlng or uterine part of oviduct, 



,., IIP 1 in which is a completed egg, i ; Z, lowest 



hke a bunch of grapes very large or vaginal part of oviduct, opening into 



J • rri „„• i,,„t :„ ii,„ urogenital sinus of the cloaca, n ; 0, 



and conspicuous. ihe oviduct is the ^nul 

 musculomembranous tube (modified 



IMiillerian duct) which conveys the ripened ovum, and in its passage 

 provides it with a quantity of white albumen, and finally a chalk shell. 

 A bird's oviduct is the strict morphological homologate (p. 103) of a 

 mammal's Fallopian tube, uterus and vagina — more accurately, of 

 one Fallopian tube, one-half of a uterus, and one-half of a vagina ; 

 for the uterus and vagina of a mammal result from the union of 



Fio. lOS. — Female organs of domestic 

 fowl, in activity ; from Owen, after 



