152 



Diseases of the Genital Organs 



I always feel that fraud has probably been committed, 

 though I believe that exceptions exist. 



In the most typical individuals, no distinctively genital 

 organs exist, but traces of both Wolffian and Mueller's ducts 

 are present and may be clearly traced. No ovaries or testes 

 are present, but very tiny undifferentiated sex glands may 

 be recognizable. 



Every gradation of development is encountered, from ab- 

 solute neuter to complete female, but the direction of devel- 

 opment in cattle, so far as I have observed, is always toward 

 the female — never toward the male or toward hermaphrod- 

 itism. Hermaphroditism, so far as I have noticed, is rarer 

 in cattle than in any other species of domestic animal, but 



Fig. 47 — Arrested Development of the Genital Tract. Bovine. 



MU, Meatus urinarius ; V, vulva ; //, hymen ; Va, vagina ; U, cordiform 



Muellerian ducts representing the uterus ; UC, uterine cornu, excavated 



and filled with fluid (menstrual debris) ; CL, corpus luteum ; O, ovary. 



cattle furnish by far the greatest number of asexual indi- 

 viduals. 



The development of the genital organs in the embryo be- 

 gins at the anterior, or ovarian end and progresses toward 

 the vulva. In the typical asexual individual, the genital 

 glands are represented by indifferent nodes, yellow in color, 

 about the size of an ordinary grain of wheat. Both the 

 Muellerian and Wolffian ducts are present and have attained 

 considerable size. They do not become tubular, but persist 

 as solid, fibrous cords. All four structures lie on a common 

 plane, the Wolffian lateral to the Muellerian ducts and in 

 close contact with them. The ducts of Mueller do not fuse 



