STUDIES ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION 
IN THE DOMESTIC FOWL 
V. DATA REGARDING THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE OVIDUCT! 
RAYMOND PEARL anp MAYNIE R. CURTIS 
FOUR FIGURES 
INTRODUCTION 
The oviduct of a laying hen is divided into five main parts, 
readily distinguishable by gross observation. Beginning at the 
cranial end of the organ these parts, in order, are: (a) the 
infundibulum, or funnel, (b) the albumen secreting portion, (c) 
the isthmus, (d) the uterus or ‘shell gland’ and (e) the vagina. 
Each of these parts is generally supposed (teste the existing liter- 
ature) to play a particular and exclusive réle in the formation 
of the protective and nutritive envelopes which surround the 
yolk in the complete egg as laid. Thus the funnel grasps the 
yolk at the time of ovulation; the glands of the albumen region 
secrete the different sorts of albumen (thick and thin) found in 
the egg;.the shell membranes are secreted in the isthmus; and 
finally the glands of the uterine wall secrete the calcareous shell. 
This is in brief the classical picture of the physiology of the oviduct. 
The gross anatomical appearance and relation of the several 
parts of the oviduct of the fowl are shown in fig. 1. 
' Papers from the Biological Laboratory of the Maine Experiment Station, 
No. 33. The previous papers in this series of ‘“‘Studies on the Physiclogy of 
Reproduction in the Domestic Fowl’’ are: 
1. Regulation in the morphogenetic activity of the oviduct. Jour. Exp. Zodl., 
vol. 6, pp. 389-359, 1909. 
11. Data on the inheritance of fecundity obtained from the records of egg pro- 
duction of the daughters of ‘200-egg’ hens. Maine Agricultural Experiment 
Station, Annual Report for 1909, pp. 49-84. 
ur. A case of incomplete hermaphroditism. Biological Bulletin, vol. 17, pp. 
271-286, 1909. 
Iv. Data on certain factors influencing the fertility and hatching of eggs. 
Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, Annual Report for 1909, pp. 105-164. 
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