OCR Text |
Show 1881.] ANATOMY OF THE ERINACEIDsE. 401 over the os uteri, the lateral opening of which at first appeared to be the os (see fig. 8) ; on dividing this the true os was found to have been concealed in its deep recess. The ovaries are botryoidal, and enclosed in peritoneal sacs. Fig. 8. Uterus and vagina of Gymnura raffiesii (horizontal section). Fig. 9. Uterus and vagina of Erinaeeus europceus (horizontal section). On either side of the rectum a large preanal gland, about the size of half a walnut, is found, invested externally with circularly disposed muscular fibres, and its cavity lined internally with a glandular membrane having several deep lacunae, and filled with a large quantity of a friable brown substance. The openings of these glands are small and circular, placed immediately in front of the anterior margin of the anus. |