540 THE RABBIT CHAP. 



The terminal part of the urethra traverses the copu- 

 iatory organ or penis ; that part of its wall which in the 

 retracted condition is dorsal is constituted by a soft 

 vascular portion, the corpus spongiosum (c. s), while the 

 opposite surface is strengthened by two harder bodies, the 

 corpora cavernosa(c.c), which are closely applied together 

 through the greater portion of their length, but diverge 

 proximally and are attached to the ischia. 



In both sexes a pair of perineal glands (p. gl) open on the 

 perineal spaces (p. 486) at the sides of the penis, and two 

 larger rectal glands (r. gl) lie at the side of the rectum. 



In the female the ovaries (Figs. 135 and 145, ov) are 

 small ovoid bodies attached by peritoneum to the dorsal 

 wall of the abdomen behind the kidneys, the ovarian 

 follicles or ovi'sacs (p. 195), which are hollow, forming, 

 when ripe, very small, rounded projections on their outer 

 surface. 1 



The oviducts, instead ot remaining separate along 

 their whole length, are fused proximally to form a wide, 

 median portion, the vagina (Figs. 144, B, and 145, va), 

 opening into the urinogenital canal or vestibule (vb) , with 

 which the bladder communicates and which opens ex- 

 ternally at the vulva (Fig. 144, B, u. g. a). Into the other 

 or distal end of the vagina, the paired, thick-walled uteri 

 (Fig. 145, r. ut, I. ut), or middle portions of the oviducts, 

 open by separate thick-walled apertures. The eggs 

 undergo development in the uteri, which vary in size 

 according to whether or not they contain embryos, and 

 according to the stage of development of these. Each 

 uterus is continued forwards as a narrow, slightly coiled 

 tube the anterior section of the oviduct, or uterine tube 

 (fl. t), which communicates with the ccelome by a small 

 aperture (fl. t'} surrounded by a wide, membranous 



1 After the ova are discharged, a proliferation of cells into the 

 follicles takes place, and gives rise to the so-called corpora lutea. 





