694: EGG AND FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 



in different kinds of animals, according to the importance of the func- 

 tion which they perform. In the lower orders, they serve mainly to 

 convey the egg to the exterior, and to supply it more or less abundantly 

 with an albuminous secretion ; while in the mammalia and in man, they 

 are adapted to the more important office of retaining the egg during the 

 period of gestation, and of providing during the same time for the nour- 

 ishment of the embryo. 



