FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM. 359 



a. The ovaries are a pair of oval bodies, of a pale 



yellowish colour, and about three-quarters of an 

 inch long, attached to the dorsal wall of the 

 abdomen, behind the kidneys and about an inch 

 in front of the crests of the iUa. 



On their surfr ces the Graafian follicles, each 

 of which contain^ an ovum, are visible as small 

 rounded semi-transparent projections. 



b. The oviducts are formed from the Miillerian ducts 



of the embryo. Their anterior ends are nar- 

 row, and form the Fallopian tubes : the middle 

 portions are wider, and become the uteri, within 

 which the young are developed ; and the posterior 

 ends unite to form a median tube, the vagina, 

 i. The Fallopian tubes are a pair of narrow slightly 

 convoluted tubes, about the size of the ureters. 

 They lie along the free edges of the broad 

 ligaments, a pair of folds of peritoneum sus- 

 pending them from the dorsal wall of the 

 abdomen. 



The anterior ends of the Fallopian tubes 

 form wide membranous funnel-shaped mouths, 

 lying along the outer sides of the ovaries, and 

 attached to their anterior ends, 

 ii. The uteri, which are continuous with the pos- 

 terior ends of the Fallopian tubes, are a pair 

 of thick-walled tubes, which vary enormously 

 in size according to the presence or absence of 

 embryos and the stage of their development. 

 The two uteri open by separate apertures into 

 the anterior end of the vagina, 

 iii. The vagina is a very wide median tube, com- 

 mencing a little in front of the crests of the 

 ilia, and extending straight back to unite, 

 within the pelvic cavity, with the neck of the 

 bladder, at the commencement of the vestibule. 



c. The vestibule or uritio-genital canal is a wide 



