1877.] ANATOMY OF HYJENA CROCUTA. 373 



the peritoneal ovarian pouch, and is provided with numerous elon- 

 gated fimbriae. From this extremity the tube passes downwards 

 lying in the anterior wall of the sac as far as its floor, where it turns 

 upward and then comes to lie in the posterior wall of the pouch, 

 terminating by becoming continuous with the corresponding uterine 

 horn at the point of attachment to the latter of the ovarian ligament. 

 I'he tube thus accommodates within the concavity of its flexure the 

 fundus of the ovarian pouch. 



Uterus. — The uterus consists of a central body and two horns. 

 Each horn measures 3g inches in length, and extends from the 

 uterine ligament of the ovary as far as the middle line, where it 

 meets with its fellow to form the corpus uteri. In this course it is 

 contained between the folds of the broad ligament, and increases 

 gradually in calibre from without inwards. Midway between its 

 commencement and termination there is attached to the horn a stout 

 fibrous cord, which evidently represents the round ligament of the 

 uterus. When traced backwards it is seen to enter the inguinal 

 region ; but its exact attachment in this locality T could not deter- 

 mine, in consequence of the organs having been removed from the 

 body before I was aware that the generative organs of this Hyaena 

 presented any unusual arrangement. At the point of attachment of 

 the round ligament to the left uterine horn there was a small 

 pedunculated hydatid. 



The body of the uterus is formed by the junction of the right and 

 left horns, and lies between the bladder and the rectum. It measures 5 

 inches in length from the junction of the horns to the opening of the 

 OS uteri into the urino-genital canal. That the whole of this is to be re- 

 garded as corpus uteri, and not as constituting any part of the vagina, 

 is proved by the absence of any constriction in its interior which 

 might correspond to an os uteri, the tubular body of the uterus re- 

 maining of the same calibre, and having the walls of uniform thick- 

 ness down to its opening into the urino-genital canal. What must, 

 therefore, be regarded as the os uteri is the constricted opening by 

 means of which the uterus communicates with the canal common to 

 both urinary and generative organs. At this point there is a thick 

 semilunar fold of mucous membrane, the concavity of which is di- 

 rected backwards, and its margins attached to the walls of the urino- 

 genital canal. It is placed horizontally, having its surfaces directed 

 upward and downward, and intervenes between the opening of the 

 urethra above and that of the os uteri below it into the common canal. 

 Internal to this fold is the uterus ; external to it is the urino-genital 

 canal ; for, as we shall see presently, there is in this animal a complete 

 absence of any differentiation of vagina from urethra. The mucous 

 lining of the uterus is thrown into well-marked longitudinal rugae. 



Urino-yenital Canal. — As already stated, the uterus and urethra 

 open into a common canal. This, the urino-genital canal, extends from 

 the junction of the two tubes to the extremity of the clitoris, and mea- 

 sures rather more than 8 inches. In this course it describes a wide 

 curve with the convexity backward, corresponding of course to that 

 of the perineum upon which it rests. The canal may, for the sake 



