1 62 DR. E. EONXBERG ON THE [Feb. 20, 



of Ovlbos probably had a similar organ. It Sis, however, reduced 

 in the Musk-ox as well as in the Common Ox and many other 

 forms. Such a thin filiform termination of the urethra must 

 easily be damaged by frost, and it could hardly be useful to an 

 animal living in such a cold climate that it needed even the interior 

 of the preputial sac clothed with hairs or wool. This might 

 therefore be the reason for its reduction in Ovibos, whatever it 

 may have been in others. 



The absence of this filiform prolongation (the cause may be 

 one or the other; is, however, a resemblance to the condition in 

 Bos, and the value of this characteristic seems to gain more im- 

 portance as it is shared also by some Antelopes (Bubaline section). 

 But it must be admitted that the reduction of such an appendix 

 as ibis might have taken place iu different forms independently. 



The genital organs of a young virgin cow killed in the Queen 

 Augusta Valley in July were preserved. The ovaries are irregu- 

 larly bean-shaped, 22 mm. long, 17 mm. broad, and 12 mm. thick. 



The tube? faVopii pursue their slightly winding course in about 

 10 cm. from the pavilion to the cornua uteri. In each cornu 

 there are a great number of cotyledonal processes. These are 

 neither regularly arranged nor of the same size, but in the wider 

 part they seem to be disposed in four rows. Those of the two 

 median rows are much the larger. The number may be estimated 

 between 90 and 100 in each cornu. The cotyledons are thus much 

 more numerous than in other forms, nearly twice as many as in 

 the cow and sheep (according to Franck '). According to Garrod's 

 li^t the Giraffe is the only ruminant which has a similarly great 

 number, namely " 180 large and small" (I. c. p. 12). Ouibos has 

 accordingly a rather isolated position in this respect. 



The corpus uteri is very short (about 12 mm.), because the 

 cornua nearly reach down to the cervix. The vaginal portion 

 forms the largest part of the genitalia in such a young cow. It 

 is about 19 cm. from the lower end of the eanalis cervicis to the 

 edges of the labia pudendi. About a third of this length is taken 

 up by the sinus urogenital is. The hymen is well developed, and 

 at its free margin is a conical papilla. Under the hymen is a 

 diverticulum in which the urethra opens. 



The vagina from the hymen to the cervix uteri is wide and about 

 13 cm. in length. Xot far from the end of the same, two large 

 plicae or valves are found, which are arranged so that each forma 

 a pocket with the wall. The interior of these i- situated on the 

 left side about 2 cm. from the mouth of the canaUs eerviealis, and its 

 pocket is open downward. The exterior valve forms a still more 

 pronounced pocket opening inward a little more than 2 cm. from 

 the other. The function of these valves may be to retaiu the 

 sperm in the vagina after copulation. Otherwise the interior sur- 

 face of the vagina is smooth, but with longitudinal folds. In the 

 Euminants that I have used for comparison, I have not seen any 



1 Cf. Ellenberger and Muller. /. c. p. 556. 





