36 THE HOKSE BOOK. 



the lumbar region and connected with the womb 

 by the Fallopian tubes. In the ovaries the ova 

 or eggs undergo many well defined changes be- 

 fore maturity and are then liberated, usually 

 one at a time, occasionally more. This is the 

 germ-cell of the female. 



In the testes of the male the sperm-cells or 

 spermatozoa have their origin in the semnifer- 

 ous tubules. These life-giving agents undergo 

 various changes from their inception to full 

 development. At maturity viewed under the 

 microscope they are threadlike bodies furnished 

 with heads and not at all unlike the *' wrig- 

 glers" one may see any summer day in a barrel 

 of rainwater and which produce mosquitoes. 

 These spermatozoa, having been matured, are 

 stored in the seminal vesicles and during copu- 

 lation are deposited in the vagina of the female. 

 In some instances the number of these sperm- 

 cells appears to be countless, in others not so 

 great, but in all there is what as yet seems to 

 be almost unaccountable superabundance of 

 them. With them is secreted a flux or lubricat- 

 ing medium in which the spermatozoa float, but 

 which in itself is not fertile. 



Periods of heat are in the mare generally 

 though not always coincident with the ripening 

 and liberation of the egg. This passes into the 

 Fallopian tube and through that to the womb. 

 The spermatozoa have the power of motion and 

 when deposited in the vagina by the horse begin 



