THE ABDOMEN AND ITS CONTENTS IO3 



ventral part of the right side of the abdominal cavity. The 

 tip of the cecum, the ''vermiform process," appears as a smooth, 

 cylindrical, glandular organ, about three inches of which 

 projects from beneath the medial loop of the colic portion 

 laterocraniad and just ventrad to a loop of the sacculated colon. 



Small intestine : Numerous loops of the small intestine are 

 visible in various parts of the abdominal cavity. 



Urinary bladder: The urinary bladder is a rather large, 

 usually empty, thin- walled sac which lies against the caudo- 

 ventral wall of the abdominal cavity. In the female rabbit 

 this organ may be easily distended with water, by inserting a 

 pipet into the urinogenital tract, to facilitate identifying and 

 studying its mesenteric attachments. 



Testes : If the rabbit is a male, and has not been castrated, 

 the testes may happen to be within the body cavity near the 

 urinary bladder instead of being in the scrotum, for the living 

 rabbit is able to retract the testes at will. 



Kidneys : Gently push the viscera to the right side of the 

 abdominal Cavity and note the relations of the left kidney 

 (the right will be studied later) to various other structures. The 

 left ureter is visible as it lies Hke a large white thread on 

 the ventral side of the psoas muscle (65) and passes laterad of 

 the genital, (48) mesiad to the iliolumbar (49) and common iliac 

 (51) arteries and enter the cervical (dorsal) end of the bladder. 



Adrenal (supra-renal) glands : One of these bodies lies 

 between the cranial border of either kidney and the aorta, 

 considerably nearer the aorta than the kidney, instead of upon 

 the kidney as in man (Fig. 29, ARG). 



Ovary, tube, and uterus: If the rabbit is a female the 

 ovary and cranial end of the left uterus will be found attached 

 to the dorsolateral side of the abdominal cavity about three 

 cm. caudad to the left kidney and partly enveloped by the 

 funnel of the Fallopian (uterine) tube, or salpinx. Caudo- 

 mediad this tube becomes enlarged and is known as the left 

 uterus (left womb) . The uterus, tube, and ovary are supported 

 by a mesenteric fold, the broad ligament, the regions of which 



