252 ANATOMY OP^ THE RABBIT 



supplies the uterus and anastomoses anteriorly with the 

 most posterior of the branches to the uterine tube from the 

 internal spermatic artery. 



(/) The vagina is a flattened median tube with muscular walls; 

 it receives anteriorly the apertures of the right and left uteri. 



2. Preparatory to dissecting the urinogenital structures of the 

 pelvis, the median incision of the skin of the ventral surface 

 should be continued backward to the tip of the clitoris, which 

 organ appears as a flexible median rod imbedded in the ventral 

 wall of the vestibulum. Corresponding with the glans penis of 

 the male, there is a short terminal portion, the glans clitoridis, 

 covered by a fold of skin. The structure and attachments of 

 the clitoris should now be examined. 



(a) The clitoris, like the penis of the male, is composed mainly 

 of a pair of cavernous bodies (corpora cavernosa clitoridis), 

 each consisting of an elongate mass of spongy vascular 

 (erectile) tissue surrounded by a tough white sheath. The 

 sheaths of the two cavernous bodies are fused in the 

 median plane so closely that the double character of the 

 organ is not evident except at the attached end, where the 

 two bodies diverge as the crura clitoridis, and are connected 

 to the posteroventromedial borders of the ischia by short 

 fibrous cords overlain by muscles. 



(b) The unpaired, median pubocavernosus muscle, originating 

 at the symphysis and the paired ischiocavernosus muscle, 

 originating on the posterior borders of the ischia, pass to 

 the base of the clitoris. 



(c) The suspensory ligament is a short median cord dorsal to 

 the pubocavernosus muscle, joining the base of the clitoris 

 with the posterior end of the symphysis. The crura 

 clitoridis are largely covered ventrally by the ischio- 

 cavernosus muscles, attaching the clitoris to the posterior 

 edges of the ischia at each side. 



The attachments of the clitoris should be severed and the 

 symphysis should be divided. By pressing apart the two sides of 

 the pelvis and cutting through the skin round the anus and the 



