DEVELOPMENT OF THE GENITO-UKINARY SYSTEM. 42Y 



ovoid eminence appears in the median line, at the lower 

 portion of which there is a longitudinal slit, which forms 

 the common opening of the anus and the genital and urinary 

 passages. This is the cloaca. There is soon developed, in- 

 ternally, a septum, which separates the rectum from the 

 vagina, the urethra of the female opening above. In the 

 male, this septum is developed between the rectum and the 

 urethra, the generative and the urinary passages opening to- 

 gether. From this median prominence, two lateral, rounded 

 bodies make their appearance. These are developed, with the 

 median elevation, into the glans penis and corpora cavernosa 

 of the male, or the clitoris and the labia minora of the fe- 

 male. In the male, these two lateral prominences unite in 

 the median line and enclose the spongy portion of the ure- 

 thra. When there is a want of union of the cavernous bod- 

 ies in the male, we have the malformation known as hypo- 

 spadias. In the female, there is no union in the median line, 

 and an opening remains between the two labia minora. The 

 scrotum in the male is analogous to the labia majora of the 

 female ; the distinction being that the two sides of the scro- 

 tum unite in the median line, while the labia majora remain 

 permanently separated. This analogy is farther illustrated 

 by the anatomy of inguinal hernia, in which the intestine 

 descends into the labia, in the female, and into the scrotum, 

 in the male. It sometimes occurs, also, that the ovaries de- 

 scend, very much as the testicles pass down in the male, and 

 pass through the external abdominal ring. 



From the above description, it is easy to imagine how 

 malformation and malposition of the genital organs may oc- 

 cur, so that it is difficult to determine the sex of the individ- 

 ual. We may have, in a male, absence of beard and a cer- 

 tain degree of development of the mammary glands, with a 

 pelvic conformation approximating, more or less, that of the 

 female ; and, on the other hand, a female may have a beard, 

 slight mammary development, and a general conformation of 

 the body resembling that of the male. This may be associated 



