CH. LTX.] 



THE MULLERIAN DUCTS 



875 



termed the organ of Giraldes. The lower end of the Wolffian duct 

 may remain as the duct of Gaertner, which descends towards, and is 

 lost upon, the anterior wall of the vagina. 



The Fallopian tubes, the uterus, and the vagina are developed 

 from the Mlillerian ducts. The two Mlillerian ducts are united 

 below into a single cord, called the genital cord, and from this are 

 developed the vagina, as welf as the lower portion of the uterus ; 

 while the ununited portion of the duct on each side forms the upper 

 part of the uterus and the Fallopian tube. In certain cases of 

 arrested or abnormal development, these portions of the Mullerian 

 ducts may not become fused together at their lower extremities, and 

 there is left a cleft or horned condition of the upper part of the 



FIG. 676. Diagram of two-horned uterus. The body of the uterus (U) is formed by the fusion of the 

 two Mullerian ducts, the ununited portions of which form the oviducts, Fallopian tubes or horns of 

 the uterus (O, O) ; V, vagina. 



uterus resembling a condition which is permanent in certain of the 

 lower animals (see fig. 676). 



In the male, the Mullerian ducts have no special function, and 

 are but slightly developed. The hydatid of Morgagni is the remnant 

 of the upper part of the duct. The small prostatic pouch, uterus 

 masculinus, or sinus pocularis, forms the atrophied remnant of the 

 distal end of the genital cord, and is, therefore, the homologue of 

 the vagina and uterus. 



Between the Wolffian body and the mesentery, the mesoblast 

 covering the ridge produced by the projecting Wolffian body is 

 converted into a thick epithelium called the germ epithelium (see 

 fig. 675). From this the reproductive gland (ovary or testis as the 

 case may be) is developed. 



