40 INTRODUCTION TO SEXUAL PHYSIOLOGY 



upward or forward progress through the uterus by the movements 

 of their tails. Bischoff found spermatozoa at the top of the 

 oviduct in the rabbit nine or ten hours after coition. It is 

 in the oviduct that the ova are usually fertilised. The majority 

 of the sperms die in the uterus, some penetrating into the 

 glands ; they become disintegrated and absorbed, or else their 

 remains pass out again at menstruation. Whether or not the 

 semen is absorbed in any quantity, either in the vagina or in 

 the uterus, or in both, is a question about which there is some 

 doubt, but it is of considerable importance in connection with 

 contraceptive practices in coition. 



