30 GENERAL BIOLOGY 



9. Ovaries. Found in the female and composed of masses 

 of eggs, their size depending upon the maturity of the animal, 

 and the time of year. If the ovaries are mature they may 

 almost completely fill the body cavity crowding all the other 

 organs that are in the cavity. If the animal is immature 

 the small ovaries will be found near the dorsal part of the 

 body cavity hidden by the digestive organs. Long con- 

 voluted tubes along the dorsal wall of the body cavity are 

 the oviducts. Anteriorly these are held in place against 

 the esophagus, and open into the coelom by a funnel-shaped 

 mouth. Near the posterior end each oviduct enlarges to 

 form a sort of bladder, called the uterus. 



Fastened near the anterior end of the ovaries are slender 

 yellowish fat bodies. 



10. Testes. These organs, the male reproductive organs, 

 are oval yellowish bodies near the dorsal body wall. Usually 

 connected to them are slender yellowish fat bodies. Ducts 

 from the testes pass into the kidneys and communicate 

 with the urinary duct or ureter. The ureter, therefore, 

 functions as a common urino-genital duct. Rudiments of 

 oviducts may occasionally be present along the sides of the 

 kidneys. 



11. Kidneys. To study the kidneys and their ducts, 

 remove the muscle and a portion of the bony pelvic girdle 

 which lie ventral to the intestine and cloaca. Place the 

 animal under water and displace the other organs to expose 

 the kidneys, a pair of elongated reddish organs situated 

 close to the vertebral column. A small tube, the ureter, 

 extends from the posterior end of each kidney to the cloaca. 

 On the ventral side of each kidney is a narrow yellowish 

 line, the adrenal body, a gland whose secretion is poured 

 into the blood. 



