An introduction to the study of mammals living and extinctLydekker, Richard
Science
An introduction to the study of mammals living and extinct
Lydekker, Richard
Mammals
_Urinary Organs._—The kidneys of mammals are more compact and definite
in form than in other vertebrates, being usually more or less oval,
with an indent on the side turned towards the middle line, from and
into which the vessels and ducts pass. They are distinctly divided into
a cortical secretory portion, composed mainly of convoluted tubes, and
containing the so-called Malpighian bodies; and a medullary excreting
portion, formed of straight tubes converging towards a papilla, embraced
by the commencement of the ureter or duct of the organ. The kidneys of
some mammals, as most Monkeys, Carnivores, Rodents, etc., are simple,
with a single papilla into which all the renal tubuli enter. In others,
as Man, there are many pyramids of the medullary portion, each with its
papilla, opening into a division (calyx) of the upper end of the ureter.
Such kidneys, either in the embryonic condition only, or throughout
life, are lobulated on the surface. In some cases, as in Bears, Seals,
and especially the Cetacea, the lobulation is carried further, the whole
organ being composed of a mass of renules, loosely united by connective
tissue, and with separate ducts, which soon join to form the common
ureter.
_Bladder._—In all mammals except the Monotremes the ureters terminate
by slit-like valvular openings in the urinary bladder. This receptacle
when filled discharges its contents through the single median urethra,
which in the male is almost invariably included in the penis, and in
the females of some species of Rodents, Insectivores, and Lemurs has a
similar relation to the clitoris. In the Monotremes, though the bladder
is present, the ureters do not enter into it, but join the urino-genital
canal some distance below it, with the orifice of the genital duct
intervening.
VI. NERVOUS SYSTEM AND ORGANS OF SENSE.
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