FEMALE ORGANS OF RODENTIA. 687 



ib. c, c', passes outward a short way beyond the ovary, then sud- 

 denly bends back toward the uterus,/: it is unravelled in fig. 

 772, a. The natural disposition of the efferent canals in the un- 

 impregnated state are shown in fig. 540. The uterine tubes, e, f, 

 are united for a short distance by areolar and serous tissue at g ; 

 but open separately into the vagina, as shown by the styles, h, i. 

 The longitudinal and circular layers of the muscular coat are as 

 well marked as in Marsupials ; but the inner coat has a different 

 and lower structure : it is more homogeneous, and adheres closely 

 to the muscular coat : its inner surface is more or less wrinkled, 

 and is minutely porous, the orifices being those of the irregular 

 canals called ' utricular glands/ exuding fluid, and lined by the 

 formified particles or ' cells,' which likewise adhere to the free 

 surface of the uterine lining. This, when injected, presents a fine 

 reticulate structure, with a similar disposition of the superficial 

 capillaries. Near the distal end of the true vagina are two small 

 semilunar folds, with their concavity directed toward the uro- 

 genital passage. This is long in Leporidce and a few other 

 Rodents : its commencement is indicated, where valvular limits 

 are wanting, by the opening of the urethra, ib. d: it terminates 

 close to the vent in all Rodents ; and, in the Hare, on the same 

 nude patch of skin on each side of which is the glandular bag, q. 

 The ( preputium clitoridis ' opens just within the verge of the 

 urogenital outlet : the clitoris commences by two crura, and ter- 

 minates by a flattened bifid glans. In the Capybara the urethra 

 terminates close to the vulva, and a groove is continued to the 

 preputium clitoridis, which projects externally. In many Ro- 

 dents (Arvicola, Lagostomus, Bathyergus) the clitoris is per- 

 forated by the urethral canal. In the Squirrel the vulva is a 

 longitudinal slit upon a conical prominence or 'peak:' in the 

 Porcupine the vulva is a thick semilunar prominence, puckered 

 up internally into longitudinal folds, and opening immediately 

 below the vent. The urethra and preputium clitoridis are close 

 to the vaginal outlet. 



The human uterus repeats, as an anomaly, the grade of con- 

 centrative development attained by those Rodents in which 

 a short common cavity or e corpus ' intervenes between the 

 cornua and the vagina, as in the instance, fig. 541, given by 

 Arthur Farre in his masterly Article ( On the Uterus and 

 its Appendages. 1 



§ 385. In Insectivora. — In some of these Lissencepliala, as in 



1 ccxlvi". p. 680. 



