GENERATIVE SYSTEM. 299 



that of the large one. Their exterior is even, and such as in- 

 dicates their structure to be of the conglobate kind. The inte- 

 rior exhibits a more uniform appearance : a longitudinal section 

 through the middle displays an arborescent membranous struc- 

 ture, wliich is demonstrated (by the use of the blowpipe) to be 

 the system of excretory ducts, whose papillary terminations in 

 the urethra have been already pointed out. These glands likewise 

 secrete a peculiar fluid, and that is also ejected in commixture 

 with the sperm. 



FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION; 



CONSISTING OF EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL PARTS, AND 

 APPENDIX. 



EXTERNAIi PARTS, 



Such as can be examined without the aid of dissection; 

 comprehending the Vulva, the Clitoris, and the Meatus Uri- 

 narius. 



OF THE VULVA. 



THE VULVA, or pudeiidam, is the broad slit included between 

 two prominences of the common integuments, extending from a 

 little belov^' the anus down in a perpendicular direction between 

 the supero-posterior parts of the hind quarters. It is constituted 

 of the Jissuie, in the middle, denominated the Jissura mag/ia : 

 of the two lateral prominences, or labia pudendi ; and of two 

 angles, superior and inferior, called the commissures. 



THE FISSURA MAGNA, or sinus pudor is.— T\vq external 

 orifice of the vagina, several inches in extent, is largest in mares 

 that have borne foals, in consequence of the extension it under- 

 goes in parturition. The short interspace between the fissure 

 and the anus is termed the perineum. 



THE LABIA PUDENDI are composed exteriorly of dou- 

 blings of the common skin, which here exhibits a particularly fine 

 and soft texture, is hairless, and in most mares black, and is pre- 

 served moist and supple by a sebaceous secretion continually ex- 

 uding from minute pores in their opposed surfaces. But the labia 

 owe their bulk principally to adipose substance ; which accounts 

 for the variations in regard to prominence they undergo in con- 

 formity with the age, as well as the embonpoint of the animal. 

 With the fatty substance is blended a fibrous texture, and so 

 intricately, that the one cannot be demonstrated separately from 

 the other, nor can their mutual connexion and arraniiemcnt be 



