518 



GENITAL ORGANS OF THE COW 



its wall is remarkably dense, and may be nearly an inch (ca. 2 cm.) in thickness. 

 Its lumen, the cervical canal, is spiral, and is ordinarily tightly closed and very 

 difficult to dilate. The muscular coat of the uterus is thicker than in the mare. 

 It consists of an external longitudinal layer and two circular strata. The inner 

 circular layer is about a fourth of an inch (ca. 6 mm.) thick in the cervix. The other 

 layers are continued in the vagina. The 



mucous membrane of the horns and body /> 



presents as a characteristic feature the _ ■ 



uterine cotyledons (C'otyledones uterina^). 

 These are oval ]:)rominences, aljout a hun- 

 dred in number, which are either irregularly 

 scattered over the surface or arranged in 

 rows of about a dozen. 







In the non-gravid uterus they average about 

 3^ to y^^ inch (ca. 15 to 18 mm.) in length, \ inch 

 (ca. 8 mm.) in width, and ^s inf^li (f^'i- '-^ to 4 mm.) 

 in thicknes.s. During pregnancy they become greatly 

 enlarged and pedunculated. The larger ones then 

 measure about 4 to .5 inches (10 to 12 cm.) in length, 

 1 to IJ^ inches (3 to 4 cm.) in width, and 1 inch (2 

 to 2. .5 cm.) in thickness. The deep face has a hilus 

 at which the vessels enter. The rest of the surface 

 has a spongy appearance, due to numerous crypts 

 which receive the villi of the chorion. 



The uterine glands are long and 

 branched. The mucous membrane of the 

 cervix is pale and forms mnnerous folds. 

 The latter are arranged in several series 

 which obliterate the lumen. At the ex- 

 ternal orifice (os uteri) the folds (Plicae 

 palmatse) form rounded prominences ar- 

 ranged circularly, which project into the 

 cavity of the vagina. There are no glands 

 in the cervix, but a thick mucus is secreted 

 by goblet cells. 



-i:i;i:^\ 





H;- 





Fir,. 413. — Uterine Cotyledon op Cow. 

 The figure repre.sents a cotyledon of medium .size. 

 Ellenberger, in Leisering'is Atlas.) 



(After 



Fig. 414. — Genital Organs of Cow, Dorsal 



YlKW. 



The right uterine eornu and the vagina and 

 vulva are opened up: 1, Labium vulva?; 2, ventral 

 conunissure; 3, glans clitoridis; 4, glandula vesti- 

 bularis major, exposed by slit in nnicous mem- 

 brane; 5, opening of duct of preceding; 6, sub- 

 urethral (Hverticulum; 7, external urethral open- 

 ing; S, oi)enings of canals of Gartner; 9, os uteri; 

 iO, corpus uteri; /i, cornu uteri; i.2, cotyledons; 

 13, Fallopian tube; 14, ostium abdominale tubse; 

 15, ovary (From Leisering's Atlas, reduced.) 



The broad ligaments are not attached in the sublumbar region as in the mare, 

 but to the up]xn- part of the flanks, al:)out a handbreadth l)elo^\- the l(>vel of the 

 external angle of the ilium. They contain a conspicuous amount of unstriped 

 muscle. The round ligaments tuc well developed, and can he traced distinctly 

 to the vicinity of the internal inguinal ring. 



The vagina is somewhat longer and more roomy than that of the mare; its 



