LEPUS CUNICULUS 



323 



The urinary organs of the female are practically the same 

 as in the male save for a slight difference in the position of the 

 openings of the ureters into the bladder, but the reproductive organs 

 are naturally entirely different. The essential female organs are 

 the ovaries, small oval bodies about three-quarters of an inch long 

 attached to the dorsa.' body wall by folds of the peritoneum the 

 mesometria, just benind 

 the kidneys. On their 

 surface can be seen semi- 

 transparent rounded pro- 

 jections, the Graffian folli- 

 cles, which are vesicular 

 structures containing the 

 ova, and they vary in size 

 in accordance with the 

 state of their development. 

 The oviducts, which are 

 the much developed and 

 modified pronephric ducts, 

 have three distinct por- 

 tions. The anterior end 

 takes the form of a narrow, 

 somewhat convoluted tube, 

 the Fallopian tube, that 

 opens into the coelom quite 

 close to the ovary, and 

 has its opening furnished 

 with a membranous funnel 

 whose walls are much 

 folded. The succeeding 

 portion is greatly enlarged, 

 and has thick muscular 

 walls. This is the uterus, 

 wherein the eggs undergo 

 their development and the 

 embryos are retained until 



they are born, so that the size of the two uteri depends upon whether 

 they contain embryos or not. Each embryo or foetus is actually at- 

 tached to the uterus by the intimate union of an outgrowth from itself 

 and a special receptive thickening of the uterine wall. The highly 

 vascular mass of the tissue formed in this way partly from the f oetus 

 and partly from the parent is termed the placenta, and it is the organ 

 by means of which nutriment and oxygen are conveyed to the foetus 

 and carbon dioxide and nitrogenous waste matters removed. The 



PS 



FIG. in. Diagram of female urogenital 

 system of Lepus. 



A., anus ; B., urinary bladder ; B.C., glands of Bartho- 

 lini ; C., clitoris ; C.S., corpus spongiosum , F., Fallopian 

 tube ; K., kidney ; O., ovary ; Pe., perineal gland ; 

 P.S., pelvic symphysis ; R., rectum ; R.G., rectal gland ; 

 U., ureter ; Ut., uterus ; T " 

 vestibule. 



V., vulva. Va., vagina ; Ve. f 



