Page:Laboratory Manual of the Anatomy of the Rat (Hunt 1924).djvu/108

94 terior to the ovary along the lateral surface of the kidney.

A pair of pockets, corresponding in position to the inguinal canals of the male, extends backward from the abdominal cavity. These pockets are probably the homologues of the male vaginal sacs, and therefore probably correspond to the diverticula of Nuck in man. The mesentery whose attachment runs along the posterior third of the broad ligament's lateral surface, and terminates in this diverticulum, is doubtless the round ligament. Are these diverticula found in all female rats?

Slit the anterior end of the uterus and locate the opening of the uterine (or Fallopian) tube. This tube carries the ova from the ovary to the uterus. The aperture is small but may be found fairly easily, in a uterus containing large fetuses, near the anterior end of the uterine horn, for the tube runs in the wall of the uterus a short distance before opening into it. The ovary, the gonad of the female, is incased in a tough transparent capsule, the bursa ovarica. The periovarial space lies between the bursa and the ovary. Trace the coiled uterine tube. It is said to be from two and a half to three centimeters long, and to contain from eight to ten fairly constant major loops. The tube pierces the bursa ovarica and projects into the periovarial space as the infimdihulum tubae. The epithelial lining of the infundibular section of the tube bears long cilia. This is the only ciliated region of the tube. The wall of the tube contains muscles, which are best developed toward the uterine end. Slit open the ovarial capsule and observe the corpora lutea on the surface of the ovary. Each corpus luteum marks the point at which an egg bursts through the wall of the ovary during ovulation. The ovary is attached dorsally to a strong tendinous band of connective tissue which extends in the broad ligament from