378 Coe and Kunkel— California Limbless Lizard. - 
In the female the conditions are somewhat more complex, for the 
oviducts have their openings close together on the summit of a pair 
of closely united papillz which are situated on the dorsal wall of the 
horizontal partition and thus on the ventral wall of the dorsal cloacal 
chamber (pl. xiv, fig. 34). In some individuals the papillae extend 
backward and project slightly beyond the posterior end of the parti- 
tion, so that their tips are visible when the posterior chamber is 
opened. In most cases, however, such is not the case, the tips of 
the papille being hidden from view by the horizontal partition. 
Although in ordinary cases a pair of such papill is present, yet the 
state of contraction of the parts may be such that both oviducts lie 
very close together and apparently form but a single papilla. Each 
of the oviducts is surrounded by a firm layer of circular muscular 
fibers, which are nearly as well developed in the left as in the right 
oviduct, although the lumen of the left is usually smaller than that 
of the right. 
The ureters, on the other hand, open on the dorso-lateral aspect of 
the dorsal chamber very much as in the male. ‘Their openings are 
thus widely separated from those of the oviducts, although both lie 
in a frontal plane passing through the posterior extremity of the 
horizontal partition (pl. xiv, fig. 34, w). Thus the openings of the 
ureters really lie on the boundary between the dorsal and pos- 
terior chambers. 
The posterior cloacal chamber is about as wide and as deep as it 
is long; its walls are very distensible and are commonly thrown up 
. into fairly distinct longitudinal folds. Its epithelial lining is com- 
posed mainly of large, clear mucous cells, the nuclei of which are 
situated in the bases of the cells and appear to be irregularly 
arranged in two or more layers. The opening of this chamber to 
the exterior is guarded by strong circular muscles, and when con- 
tracted its epithelial lining shows conspicuous longitudinal folds 
(pl. xnvi, figs. 40-43). : 
The general relations of the cloacal chambers and the ducts open- 
ing therein are shown in text-figures 14 and 15 for both embryo and 
adult female. In the ideal sagittal section of the cloaca of the late 
embryo (text-fig. 14), the ureter (2) and the Wolffian duct (Wd) 
both open directly into the dorsal cloacal chamber (d.c) somewhat 
laterally, while the oviduct (od) is indicated by dotted lines as it 
opens on the dorsal side of the thick horizontal partition (A) very 
near the median line of the body. The ventral cloacal chamber (v.¢) 
is very broad and directly continuous with the narrow rectum (7). 
