DESCENT OF THE TESTIS AND OVARY 



223 



Male. The ligamentum testis, like the ligamentum ovarii, develops 

 in the genital fold and extends from the caudal end of the testis to the 

 mesonephric fold, at a point opposite the attachment of the inguinal fold. 

 The inguinal fold, as we have seen, is continuous with the inguinal crest 

 and the chorda gubernaculi. A cord develops in the mesonephric fold 

 and connects the ligamentum testis with the chorda gubernaculi, for in 

 the male the uterus does not intervene between these two. The chorda 

 gubernaculi is continued to the integument of the scrotum by way of the 

 ligamentum scroti. Thus there is formed a continuous cord, the guber- 



Suprarenal gland 



Diaphragmatic ligament- 



Ligamenliim ovarii 



Round ligament of iitcnu 



Phallm 



Metanephros 



Pelvis of metanephroi 



Uterine tube 

 Rectum 



Ulero-vaginal anlage 

 Bladder 



Genital swelling 

 Clans ditoridis 



FIG. 233. Ventral dissection of a female human embryo of 34 mm. The urogenital organs 

 are dissected out and the left suprarenal gland has been removed. 



naculum testis, extending from the caudal end of the testis through the 

 inguinal canal to the scrotal integument. The gubernaculum is composed 

 of the ligamentum testis, a mesonephric cord, the chorda gubernaculi, and the 

 ligamentum scroti. It is the homologue of the ovarian ligament plus the 

 round ligament of the uterus, between which the uterus intervenes (Fig. 233.) 

 Descent of the Testis and Ovary. The original position of the testis 

 and ovary is changed during the later stages of development. At first 

 they are elongate structures, extending in the abdominal cavity from the 

 diaphragm caudally towards the pelvis (Fig. 220). Since their caudal 

 ends continue to grow and enlarge while their cranial portions are atrophy- 

 ing, there is a wave-like shifting of the glands caudad. An actual internal 

 descent, however, does not occur. When the process of growth and de- 



