THE HORSE. 



125 



birth, and are found within the scrotum at 

 the period of parturition. In some cases, 

 one testicle will not make its appearance 

 for some time after the other ; and as the 

 operation for castration is seldom long de- 

 layed, this will account for the rigs (as 

 horses having but one testicle are called) 

 with which we meet every now and then. 

 Again, instances are not wanting in which 

 one testicle has descended to the ring and 

 there remained through life.* 



PENIS. 



The penis is composed of the two corpora 

 cavermosa : head, or glans penis : corpus 

 musculosum urethra, and the plexus veno- 

 sus. The corporo cavermosa make up the 

 bulk of the organ, they extend from the 

 pelvis to the glans penis ; at the ischial arch 

 they are invested with fibres of the erectors 

 penis, and are strengthened and confined to 

 the pubes by the suspensory ligaments. It 

 is supplied with blood from a branch of 

 the obturaler arter, by means of the inter- 

 nal pudic artery. Its nerves are termed 

 pudic, so also are the veins. 



The glans is composed of a soft spongy 

 tissue, highly elastic and distensible, and 

 remarkable as the seat of the plexus venosus 

 penis : the latter structure presents itself in 

 the form of a venous conglomeration, and 

 in the erect state of the organ constitutes 

 its chief bulk. 



URETHRA. 



The urethra is a muco-membranous canal 



* In a communication I have been favored with from 

 'Mx. Brettargh (which I have inserted in the second vol- 

 ume of The Veterinarian), is contained the following 

 information on this subject : " Colts are foaled with their 

 testicles in the scrotum, which remain there (in ordinary 

 cases) until the fifth or sixth month, Avheii they are taken 

 up between the internal and external abdominal rings, 

 and there remain until the eleventh, twelfth or thirteenth 

 month, all depending upon the degree of keep, as in some 

 that are well fed the testicles can at all times be found in 

 the scrotum. Were the testicles drawn up into the abdo- 

 men, they would be too large to pass through the inter- 

 nal abdominal ring at the time they are wanted to prepare 

 for secretion ; which is occasionally the case, and at once 

 accounts for our meeting with horses that are said to have 

 but one stone. I have seen one instance where both were 

 wanting in the scrotum at four years old." 



averaging in length, in the unerected state 

 forty -eight inches; it extends from the ante- 

 rior part of the glans penis to the neck of 

 the bladder ; its use is to afford a passage 

 for the urine and seminal fluid. 



FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 



The vulva or pudendum comprises the 

 prominence and fissure, commencing imme- 

 diately beneath the anus, and extending 

 downwards some four or five inches. The 

 fissure is longest and most conspicuous in 

 breeding mares. The space between the 

 anus and vulva is termed perineum. The 

 prominences on each side of the vulva are 

 called labia frudinde. They owe their 

 bulk principally to muscular and fatty sub- 

 stance, and cellular tissue. 



The commissures are the parts uniting the 

 labia above and below. The superior or 

 upper commissure is extended to a sharp 

 angle, and joins the perineum; the lower 

 portion is rounded off, and is bounded by a 

 hollow, at the bottom of which is lodged 

 the 



Clitoris. — This is brought into view im- 

 mediately after staling: it bears a close 

 comparison to the head of the male penis, 

 and, like the latter, is susceptible of sensual 

 enjoyment. To the clitoris belong a pan- 

 of muscles named erector clitoris. They 

 take their origin from the perineum. Their 

 office is to erect that body, and protrude it 

 into the vagina in the act of coition. 



The internal parts are the vagina, uterus, 

 Fallopian tubes, fimbrioB, and ovaria. The 

 vagina is a musculo-membranous canal, of 

 large dimensions, extending from the vulva 

 to the uterus or womb. 



It is situated within the pelvis, having 

 the bladder below and the rectum above it, 

 to both of which it has cellular attach- 

 ments, in addition to the reciprocal connec- 

 tion with the peritoneum. To the rectum 

 it is closely and firmly attached by cellular 

 membrane. 



The figure of the vagina, when it is dis- 

 tended, is that of an oblong cylinder ; but 

 in the collapsed state, its sides are in con- 

 tact, and it will vary its form according to 



