CH. VIIl] FROGS, TOADS, AND NEWTS 277 



The ureter of the male has upon it an enlargement, the 

 vesicula seminalis (vide infra, sub Reproduction). 



The urinary bladder is not directly connected with the 

 ureters. It is a bilobed, thin- walled sac .lying ventral to 

 the cloaca and opening through a narrow neck into the 

 cloacal portion of the alimentary canal. It has been 

 asserted 1 that the liquid contained in the bladder is not 

 urine but water only, and that the organ is for the storage 

 of water for the respiratory functions of the skin. There 

 is however no doubt that urea is present in the liquid. 

 When alarmed the animal usually voids the contents of 

 the bladder and may perhaps gain some protection by 

 this means of repelling attack. 



Attached to the renal veins on the ventral surface 

 of the kidney are small yellow bodies, the adrenals. 

 Srdinko 2 regards these as blood-forming and cytogenous 

 organs. 



Reproduction. The sexes are separate, though ab- 

 normal instances of hermaphroditism are not unknown 

 in which the reproductive organs partake of the characters 

 both of testis and ovary. The testes lie upon the ventral 

 surface of the kidneys ; they are of a creamy-white colour 

 with black pigment spots freely scattered over their surface. 

 In shape they are ovo-spherical as a rule. Their size varies 

 considerably at different seasons, being greatest at the 

 breeding time. The vasa efferentia, or sperm ducts, pass 

 into the kidney, where they open into a longitudinal tube, 

 whence transverse tubes arise which unite with uriniferous 



1 Bell, British Reptiles. 



2 Anat. Anz. xvni.; cf. Swale Vincent, ibid. 



