ORGANS OF EEPEODUCTIOX. 389 



termination of the vagina, its mouth opening into the vagina. 

 The cavity of the womb is designed for the fetus, or foal, before 

 birth. The womb is a comparatively small body when there 

 is nothing in it, but becomes very large as the foal approaches 

 the time of birth. Two horn-like prominences arise from the 

 womb, one on each side, from which arise two tubes, each of 

 which winds its waj^ to the ovaries, two egg-shaped bodies, one 

 situated in each loin. These bodies contain the ovum, or egg, 

 which, if brought in contact with the semen of the male at the 

 proper time, will descend the little tube into the womb and 

 stop there, becoming attached to the ^vall of the womb, and be- 

 come a living foal. One of these eggs becomes ripe, so to 

 speak, every time the mare is in season. If she is not served 

 by the horse at this time, the egg that had become ripe passes 

 into the womb, but does not stop there, but passes out at the 

 mouth of the womb, and is lost. 



The process of reproduction is this : The semen, the white 

 fluid which the male furnishes, is thrown into the womb, and 

 from it passes up the fallojnan tube to the ovary, or egg-sack, 

 and there comes in contact with a mature or ripe egg, called 

 an ovum, Avhich immediately takes on a new life of its own. It 

 is then said to be impregnated. The impregnated ovum then 

 descends by the fallopian tube into the womb, becomes attached 

 to the walls of the womb, and rapidly commences to form the 

 living animal, or fetus. It remains in the womb for the space 

 of eleven months, when all the parts of the foal are sufficiently 

 developed, and it is then expelled from the womb by a powerful 

 contraction of the womb itself, and all the muscles of the chest 

 and abdomen acting together. 



