Page:The Works of William Harvey (part 1 of 2).djvu/568

 the genital as well as all other parts in higher perfection than any other animal. The parts of the female uterus conse- quently present themselves with great distinctness, and by rea- son of the industry of anatomists in this direction are believed to be particularly well known to us.

We meet with many things in the uterus of deer which we encounter in the uterus of the human female; and we also observe several that diifer. In the vulva or os externum we find neither labia, nor clitoris, nor nymphse, but only two open- ings, one for the urine, adjacent to the pecten, or os pubis, the other the vagina, lying between the meatus urinarius and the anus. A cuticular or membranous fold, such as we have noted in the hen, stretching downwards from the anus, acts as a vela- bruin, supplies the place of nymphse and labia pudendi, and guards against injury from without. This velabrum must be somewhat retracted by the female when she copulates, or at all events must be raised by the penis of the male as it enters the vulva.

The symphysis pubis being divided in deer, and the legs widely separated, the urinary bladder, the vagina which is entered by the penis of the buck, and the cervix uteri, are all seen in their relative situations, not otherwise than they are in women ; the ligamenta suspensoria, with the veins, arteries, and testicles, as they are called, also come into sight ; the cornua of the uterus in these creatures are also more remarkable than any other part of this organ.

As for the vessels called vasa prseparantia and vasa deferentia seu ejaculantia, you will discover nothing of the kind here, nor indeed in any other female animal that I am aware of. The anatomists who believe that women emit a seminal fluid sub coitu have been too eager in their search after such vessels ; for in some they are not met with at all, and where they do occur they never present themselves with anything of uniformity of character. Wherefore it seems most likely that women do not emit any semen sub coitu, which is in conformity as I have said with what the greater number of women state. And al- though some of warmer temperament shed a fluid in the sexual embrace, still that this is fruitful semen, or is a necessary re- quisite to conception, I do not believe ; for many women con- ceive without having any emission of the kind, and some even