GENITAL ORGANS OF THE COW 607 
in thickness. Its lumen, the cervical canal, is spiral, and is ordinarily tightly closed 
and very difficult to dilate. The vaginal part of the uterus is fused ventrally with 
the vagina, so that the fornix vagine is dorsal, and not an annular space as in the 
mare. The muscular coat of the uterus is thicker than in the mare. It consists 
of an external .longitudinal layer and two circular strata. The inner circular layer 
is about a fourth of an inch (ca. 6 mm.) thick in the cervix. The other layers are 
continued in the vagina. The mucous membrane of the horns and body presents 
as a characteristic feature the uterine cotyledons (Cotyledones uterinz).' These 
are oval prominences, about a hundred in number, which are either irregularly 
scattered over the surface or arranged in rows of about a dozen. 
In the non-gravid uterus they average about half an inch or more (ca. 15 mm.) in length, 
and a little less in width and thickness. During pregnancy they become greatly enlarged and 
pedunculated. The larger ones then measure about four or five inches (10 to 12 cm.) in length, 
an inch and a half (3 to 4 cm.) in width, and an inch (2 to 2.5 cm.) in thickness. The deep face has 
ahilus at which the vessels enter. The rest of the surface has a spongy appearance, due to numer- 
ous crypts which receive the villi of the chorion. 
The uterine glands are long and branched. The mucous membrane of the 
cervix is pale, glandless, and forms numerous folds. The latter are arranged in 
several series which obliterate the lumen. 
At the external uterine orifice the folds 
(Plicee palmate) form rounded prominences 
arranged circularly, which project into the 
cavity of the vagina. There are no glands 
in the cervix, but a thick mucus is secreted 
by goblet cells. 
The broad ligaments are not attached 
in the sublumbar region as in the mare, but 
to the upper part of the flanks, about a Fic. 538.—Dracrammatic SaGitrat SECTION OF 
handbreadth below the level of the tuber Part oF Urocenitan Tracr or Cow, 
coxre. They contain a conspicuous amount SS ae aaa a a 
of unstriped muscle. The round ligaments 
are well developed, and can be traced distinctly to the vicinity of the abdominal 
inguinal ring. 
The vagina is somewhat longer and more roomy than that of the mare; its 
wall is also thicker. Its length in the non-pregnant animal is about eight to ten 
inches (ca. 20-25 cm.); but in the pregnant cow the length increases to twelve 
inches (30 em.) or more. The recto-genital pouch of peritoneum extends backward 
about five inches (ca. 12 em.) on the dorsal surface, while ventrally the serous coat 
only extends backward about two inches (ca. 5 em.). In the ventral wall of the 
vagina, between the muscular and mucous coats, there are commonly present the 
two canals of Gartner (Ductus epodphori longitudinales). When well developed, 
they may attain the diameter of a goose quill, and may be traced forward to the 
anterior part of the vagina or even further. They open posteriorly near the ex- 
ternal urethral orifice.” 
The vulva has thick, wrinkled labia, and both commissures are acute; the 
ventral one is pointed, and has on it a number of long hairs; it lies about two inches 
(5 em.) behind, and about the same distance below the level of, the ischial arch. 
The external urethral orifice is four or five inches (10 to 12 em.) from the ventral 
commissure. Beneath it is a blind pouch, the suburethral diverticulum, which is 
——__—__—__, 
Vagina 
Suburethral 
Siverticulum 
1 Also known as caruncule uterine. 
_ * These tubes are remnants of the Wolffian ducts, and, like other foetal vestiges, are very 
variable. Réder states that the right canal was absent in over 52 per cent., the left in only 22 per 
cent., of the cows examined by him. In some cases they may be traced in the broad ligaments for 
a variable distance toward the ovary. They are of clinical interest in that cysts frequently form 
along their course. 
