GENERATIVE APPARATUS OF BIRDS. 



1003 



various names— as horse-shoe, bilabial, semilunar, annular, iiiul fringed nijmen. When ruptured, 

 it retracts very luucli, but tlieie alweiya reuicuu boiiie vestiges of it, wliicii are desiguated 

 carunculx myrtifonneg. 



Vulva.— Thiti pnsents a cavity and an orifice, as in the domesticated animals; but the 

 cavity is not so deep, and is nam. d ti.e vestibule; it extends to the iiymen ..r its debris. Tne 

 entrance to the vulva occur h\ the middle of a ciiiieiforni proniiriencotliat is confounded, above, with 

 a kind of eminence— the Hto;(« 7<^;iem— wldch apiwars to protect tiic pubic symphysis, 'it is 

 margined by two folds on each side : one cutaneous— the lalna majora ; tiie other mucous— the 

 Inltia minora (or nymplix). The labia majora are convex externally, c.ntinuous above with 

 tin; mons Veneris, and unite below to form an acute angle, naniedthe fourchette ; tiiey are 

 covered externally with hair. The labia minora, more or less developed, leuve the fourchette, 

 and extend around the entrance to the vagina, uniting al>ove the clitoris, and foi mi ig the prepuce 

 of that organ. 



The clitoris is lodged in the superior commissure of the vulva ; its point is directed down- 

 wards, especially during erection; its base is attached, on each side, to the two erectile lobes 

 which constitute the bulb of the vagina (bulbi vcstibuli). 



Two racemose glands— the vulvo-vaginal, or glands of Bartholine— pour tlieir secretion over 

 the walls of tlie vestibule. 



Mamm;e. —Thtae are pectoral, and two in number. In their centre, they present an 

 enormous papilla -the nipple— into which the excretory canals open; it is surrounded by a 

 brown circle, the areola of the nipple. 



CHAPTER III. 



Generative Apparatus of Birds. 



1. Male Generative Organs. 



The generative organs of the male are the testicles, and an excretory apparatus 

 much simpler than that of Mammals. 



Testuhs. — These organs are placed in the sublumbar region of the abdominal 

 cavity, behind the lungs, and below the anterior extremity of the kidneys, in front 

 of the three last ribs. Their form is usually oval, and their volume varies with 

 the different species, as well as at different seasons ; at the breeding-season they 

 are greatly developed. 



Excretory apparatus. — In Birds there is not, properly speaking, an epididymis. 

 The vas deferens passes from within the posterior extremity of the testicle, 

 is directed in a flexuous manner backwards, draws near to the ureter on its own 

 Bide, going along the kidney with it, and arriving at the cloaca, where it termi- 

 nates by an orifice to be alluded to hereafter. In the Duck, it has near its 

 termination a small oval vesicle, always filled with spermatic fluid. 



Orffan of ropvlation. — This varies with the species. In the Gallinacae, it is 

 only a small papilla, placed below, near the margin of the cloacal opening, and 

 between the two orifices of the deferent canals. Tbis papilla is traversed by a 

 furrow, through which the semen flows. 



In the Palmipedes, this organ is much more developed, and is peculiar. 

 Contained within a tubular cavity in the cloaca, it is protruded externally at the 

 moment of copulation by the eversion of this cavity, like the finger of a glove ; 

 it then appears as a Ion? pendent appendage, twisted like a corkscrew. 



