DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS 



1279 



forms the lobules of the epididymis and serves to transmit the spermatozoa to the Wolffian 

 duct. 



In addition to the Wolffian duct, a second duct, the Miillerian, occurs in connection with 

 the genito-urinary apparatus, and, like the Wolffian duct, it opens below into the cloaca. The 

 history of the two ducts is very different in the two sexes. In the male the Wolffian duct 

 persists to form the vas deferens, of which the seminal vesicle is an outgrowth and the ejaculatory 

 duct the continuation, while the MiiUerian duct degenerates, its lower end persisting as the 

 prostatic utriculus and its upper end as the appendix of the epididymis. In the female, on 

 the contrary, it is the Miillerian duct which persists, its lower portion fusing with the duct of 

 the opposite side to form the vagina and uterus, while its upper portion forms the tuba 

 uterina. Inhibition of the fusion of the lower ends of the two MiiUerian ducts gives rise to the 

 bihorned or divided uteri, or the bilocular uteri and vaginae which occasionally occur. The 

 Wolffian duct in the female almost completely disappears, persisting only as the longitudinal 

 tube of the epoophoron and as the rudimentary canal of Gartner (p. 1275). With the degenera- 

 tion of the mesonephros the peritoneum which covered it becomes a thin fold, having in its 

 free edge the MiiUerian duct and, on the fusion of the lower ends of the ducts, the two folds also 

 fuse and so give rise to the broad ligament. 



Fig. 1039. — Development of the Reproductive Organs. 



Wolffian body Epididymis 



Vestibule 



Hydatid of 

 epididymis 



Ductus 

 deferens 



FEMALE 



INDIFFERENT 



MALE 



The developmental relations of the male and female organs may be seen from figure 1039 

 and also from the following table : — 



Genital ridge 

 Wolffian body 

 Wolffian duct 

 Miillerian duct 



Male 



{Testis 

 Gubernaculum testis 

 Head of epididymis 

 ■j Paradidymis) 

 I Vas aberrans / 

 j Body and tail of epididymis 

 •| Ductus deferens 

 1 Ejaculatory duct 

 Appendix of epididymis (?) 



Prostatic utriculus 



Female 



Ovary 

 J Ovarian ligament 

 \ Round ligament 



Epoophoron 



Paroophoron 



Longitudinal tubule of epoophoron 

 Canal of Gartner 



Uterine (Fallopian) tube 



Uterus 



Vagina 



The development of the external organs of generation in the two sexes presents a similar 

 differentiation from a common condition. The division of the cloaca to form a urogenital 

 sinus and the terminal part of the rectum has already been noted (p. 12,53). In the floor of the 

 sinus, to the sides of and above the urethral orifice, erectile tissue develops, forming a genital 

 tubercle. An outpouching of that portion of the anterior abdominal wall to which the round 

 ligament of the uterus or the gubernaculum was attached occurs to form the genital swellings. 



