MALE ACCESSORY REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS 229 



found spermatozoa stored up in little pockets in the walls of 

 this structure in animals during the rutting time. He suggests, 

 further, that there is a relation between the state of develop^ 

 ment of the ampulla and the time occupied by copulation. 

 When the organ is small or absent, as in dogs, cats, and boars, 

 the coition is a slow process, but when the ampulla is large and 



FIG. 54. Transverse section through the tube of the epididymis. 

 (After Szymonowicz, from Schafer.) 



a, blood-vessel ; 6, circular muscle fibres ; c, epithelium. 



well-developed, as in horses and sheep, the coitus occupies a 

 relatively short time. 



The vas deferens on either side unites with the terminating 

 portion of the corresponding seminal vesicle to form the ejacu- 

 latory duct. The two ejaculatory ducts, after traversing the 

 prostate, open into the floor of the urethra by small slit-like 

 apertures. Their function is to convey to the urethra the 

 fluid contained in the seminal vesicles and in the vasa deferentia. 



