THE FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS 13 



the more primitive oviduct of oviparous animals has undergone 

 great elaboration, while certain skin glands have undergone 

 alteration to produce the mammary tissue. 



The Fallopian tube. After ovulation the ova are caught by the 

 funnel-shaped end of the Fallopian tube (the infundibulum] and 

 are passed down the tube by the action of the ciliated epithelium 

 with which it is lined, aided by the secretion of mucus which 

 takes place at the time of ovulation. The Fallopian tube may 



Fig. y. — Fallopian Tube of Mouse. 

 e.l. epithelial lining; ))i.l. muscle layer; p.c. peritoneal covering. 



be entirely independent of the ovary except for its common 

 anchorage in the broad ligament (as in man, the cow, sheep, 

 etc.) or the expanded end may open into an ovarian capsule 

 formed from a fold of peritoneum. A closed circuit of this 

 nature, which makes it impossible for the ova to fall into the 

 body cavity, is found in the bitch, mouse, and rat. The 

 Fallopian tube itself may be short and coiled as in the mouse 

 and rat, or long and comparatively straight as in the rabbit, 

 ewe and man. The tube is lined by mucous membrane and 

 covered by a serous layer from the peritoneum. Circular 

 and longitudinal muscle layers are found under the serous 

 layer. 



