THE ANATOMY OF THE HORSE. 43 



which ir.ove around, and when in the womb it there meets the 

 ovum of the female, which is secreted by a gland called the ovary. 

 When these two small objects unite, they form the foetus, or 

 what might be called the animal in its first stage. 



The Female Genital Organs, or organs of the mare. — These 

 are very different from those in the horse, and are named as 

 follows: Ovaries, fallopian tubes, or the tubes which carry the 

 ovum from the ovaries to the uterus or womb, uterus or womb, 

 vagina, and the vulva. 



The Ovaries in the mare represent the testicles in the horse. 

 They are about the size of a pigeon's egg, and resemble it much 

 in shape. They are held to their place by ligaments, and at the 

 back part have a tube leading from them called the fallopian 

 tubes. The use of the ovaries are to secrete the ovum or egg. 

 This is a very minute body, which has to be examined under ^he 

 microscope, being only j^ of an inch in diameter. 



The Fallopian Tubes are two canals, one on each side, which 

 pasg backwards and upwards, and enter into the front part of the 

 uteru> or womb. The use of these small tubes are simply to carry 

 the ovum or egg up from the ovaries and empty it into the womb 

 or uterus. 



The Uterus or Womb is a muscular sac situated in the hip 

 cavity, bounded above by the rectum, below by the bladder, and 

 on the sides by the walls of the hip cavity. It is divided into 

 what is known as a body and a neck. The body of the womb is 

 very small, only about four to six inches long and a couple of 

 inches in diameter when the animal is not pregnant, and near the 

 front end, at the upper side, there are openings where the ovum 

 enters in. When the animal becomes pregnant, the body of "he 

 womb becomes enlarged and passes forward and to tlie left side 

 of the belly or abdominal cavity, getting larger as the time of 

 pregnancy passes on, until the foetus, or young, has attained its 

 full size. After the mare has had her young the womb begins to 

 get smaller until it attains its natural size again. The womb is 

 very largely supplied with blood vessels and nerves, especially so 

 when the animal is pregnant, as it takes a large amount of blood 

 to nourish the foetus, or young animal, before birth. The womb is 

 made up of three coats; the inner one is called mucous membrane, 

 and is found to be in the mare, wh'le pregnant, covered over with 

 numerous small processes about the size of peas, to which the 



