Common Diseases of Farm AnimalsCraig, Robert Alexander
Science
Common Diseases of Farm Animals
Craig, Robert Alexander
Veterinary medicine
GENITAL ORGANS OF THE FEMALE.--The female generative organs are the
ovaries, fallopian tubules, uterus, vagina, vulva and mammary glands.
_The ovaries_ are analogous to the testicles of the male. Their function is
to secrete ova. This pair of glands is suspended from the superior region
(sublumbar) of the abdominal cavity by folds of the lining membrane.
Leading from the ovaries, but connected with the surface of these glands
only during the period of oestrum or heat, are the fallopian tubules. Their
function is to carry the ovum from the ovaries to the uterus.
_The uterus or womb_ is a membranous sack situated in the sublumbar region
and at the inlet to the pelvic cavity. It is held in position by numerous
folds of the lining membrane of the abdominal cavity. We may divide the
womb into three divisions, cornua, body and cervix.
The cornua or horns are long and cylindrical in shape. This portion of the
womb is greatly developed in animals, like the sow and bitch, that give
birth to several young. In the impregnated animal the wall of the cornua
that contains one or several foetuses, and the body as well, becomes
greatly thickened and the lining membrane more vascular.
The body is short in all domestic animals and connects the horns with the
cervix or neck. The latter is represented by a narrow portion that projects
backward into the vagina. In the cow the cervix is less prominent than in
the mare and the tissue that forms it, quite firm. In the cow the opening
in the cervix, the os, is very small.
_The vagina_ is a musculo-membranous canal that leads from the womb. In the
mare and cow it is about one foot in length. Its function is to take part
in copulation and parturition.
_The vulva_ is the external opening of the maternal passages. It shows a
vertical slit enclosed by lips, and interiorly it forms a passage that is
continuous with the vagina. This passage is about six inches long in the
larger animals. The different features that should be noted are the
clitoris, a small erectile organ located at the inferior portion of the
opening, the meatus urinaris, the external opening of the urethra, situated
in a depression in the floor of the vulva, and the hymen, an incomplete
membranous partition that may be found separating the vulva from the
vagina.
_The mammary glands or udders_ secrete the milk that nourishes the young.
The glands vary in number. The mare has two, the cow four (Fig. 17), the
ewe two and animals that give birth to several young, eight or more. Each
gland is surmounted by a teat or nipple. The glandular tissue consists of
caecal vesicles that form grape-like clusters around the milk tubules. The
milk tubules from the different portions of the gland converge and form
larger tubules that finally empty into small sinuses or reservoirs at the
base of the teat. Leading from these sinuses are one or several milk ducts
that open at the summit of the teat.
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