[210] EXERCITATIO OCTAVA.
De reliquarum uteri partium, in gallina, situ, et fabrica.

8th exercise
The location and the structure of the remaining parts of the uterus in the hen

INTER ventriculum et iecur, ad spinam dorsi, ubi homini caeterisque animalibus pancreas est; inter truncum portae et cavam descendentem, ad exortum emulgentium et vasorum spermaticorum praeparantium, ubi arteria coeliaca mesenterium petit; ibidem etiam in gallina aliisque avibus, ovarium et vitellorum racemus nascitur. Nempe ei, a parte anteriore, [211] truncus portae, gula, et ventriculi orificium; a posteriore, vena cava, et arteria magna ad spinam dorsi descendens; supra, iecur; subtus autem, ventriculus adiacent. Infundibulum itaque tenuissima membrana constans, ab ovario deorsum secundum dorsi longitudinem, inter illud et ventriculum tendit. Et ab infundibulo (inter ventriculum, intestina, renes, et lumbos) processus uteri sive pars eius superior, cum multis revolutionibus et cellulis (ad figuram coli et recti intestini in homine) in ipsum uterum descendit. Ipse autem uterus processui huic continuus, infra ventriculum, inter lumbos, renes, et intestinum rectum, extremo abdominis loco ad podicem situs est; adeo ut, cum ovum albumine vestitum in eo continetur, deorsum tantopere decumbat, ut digitis facile, num molle an durum, partuique vicinum id ovum sit, percipere liceat.

Between the ventricle and the liver, in proximity of the backbone, where in man and in other animals the pancreas is located, between the trunk of portal vein and descending vena cava, near the origin of renal and spermatic vessels, where the coeliac artery goes toward the mesentery, in this point also in the hen and in the other birds are present the ovary and the cluster of yolks. Precisely, at the anterior side, near it the trunk of the portal vein, the isthmus - passage between glandular and muscular stomach - and the opening of the ventricle are placed, at the back side the vena cava and the big artery going down in proximity of the backbone, on the upper part the liver is located, and below the ventricle is placed. Therefore the infundibulum, which is made up by a very thin membrane, is directed downward starting from the ovary according to the length of the back, between it and the ventricle. And from the infundibulum (between ventricle, bowels, kidneys and loins) the prolongation of the uterus, that is, its upper part, with many twirls and eversions (with the aspect of colon and rectum in man) goes down in the uterus. The uterus itself, which is in continuity with this prolongation, is situated in proximity of the anus, below the ventricle, among the loins, the kidneys and the rectum, in the extreme part of the abdomen, so that, when the egg, covered with albumen is contained in it, lies so low that it is possible to easily perceive with the fingers if this egg is soft or hard and near the birth.

Uterus hic in gallina, tum magnitudine tum fabrica, varius conspicitur. Quippe in gallina gravida, aut nuper effoeta, plurimum differt ab eo, qui in gallina virgine sive pullo reperitur: huius enim uterus carnosus est et rotundus, quasi bursa vacua; tantillae cavitatis, ut vix fabam continendo sit; foris quidem levis est, intus autem plicis quibusdam secundum longitudinem rugosus: primo intuitu, vesicam urinariam maiusculam, aut ventriculum alterum parvum, facile iudices. In praegnante autem, et iam veneri matura, (quam ex rubicundo cristae colore mulieres norunt) uterus multo auctior et carnosior apparet; cum plicis maioribus et crassioribus; ad magnitudinem illam, quam ovo excipiendo idoneam cernimus; qui sursum, secundum spinae ductum, longe protenditur, et ex multis loculamentis sive cellulis, tanquam intestinum colon, ut dixi, componitur, quae ex uteri producti replicatione constituuntur. Pars huius inferior, ut maxima, ita crassissima et carnosissima est, pluribusque et maioribus plicis roborata; figura eius interna ovalis cernitur, tanquam ovi proplasma. Ascendentem uteri [212] portionem sive productionem, ego processum nomino: Fabricius, secundum uterum appellat, et ex tribus spiris seu flexionibus constare asserit: Ulysses Aldrovandus, uteri stomachum nuncupat. Sunt quidem, fateor, ut plurimum tres spirae; non est hoc tamen ita perpetuum, quin (ut in coli cellulis contingit) natura interdum abludat.

This uterus in the hen, both for size and structure, appears variable. Actually in the pregnant hen, or in that having just laid an egg, it is very different from that found in a virgin hen or in a pullet. In fact the uterus of the latter is fleshy and round, almost an empty pouch, endowed with such a small cavity to hardly contain a broad bean; while outside it is smooth, on the contrary inside it is wrinkled because of some folds longitudinally arranged. At a first glance you would easily think that it is a rather large urinary bladder, or another small ventricle. On the contrary in a pregnant and already sexually mature hen (which the women recognize according to the red colour of the comb), the uterus appears more larger and fleshy, with greater and thicker folds, endowed with a size we judge suitable for holding an egg. It pushes aloft and for a long segment along the backbone, and is composed, as I said, by a lot of subdivisions or little cells, as the colon intestine, composed by a refolding of the lengthened uterus. Its inferior part, being the larger one, is therefore very thick and very fleshy, strengthened by very numerous and greater folds. Its inside aspect results oval, as the sketch of the egg. I call prolongation the ascending part or extension of the uterus. Fabrizi calls it second uterus and affirms that it is made by three coils or flexures. Ulisse Aldrovandi calls it stomach of the uterus. I admit that at most they are three coils, but the things are not always so, since sometimes the nature behaves in a different way (as it happens in the concamerations of the colon).

Uterus iste, prout ascendit altius, ita quoque sensim magis attenuatur et gracilescit, minoribusque et paucioribus plicis constat; donec tandem in membranas, easque tenuissimas, abiens, infundibulum constituat; quod ad cinctum corporis usque pertingens, totum ovarium complectitur.

This uterus, when climbing more aloft, likewise gradually gets smaller and becomes thinner, and is constituted by smaller and less numerous folds, until when finally, turning itself into very thin membranes too, it constitutes the infundibulum, which, coming up to the belt of the body, embraces the whole ovary.

Ideoque Fabricius[1], secundi uteri tres partes constituit; principium nempe, medium, et finem. Principium, inquit, in membranam tenuem mollissimamque degenerans, orificium latius efformat, quasi tubulum aut infundibulum repraesentans. Altera pars (quam ego uteri processum nomino) spiris tribus transversis constans, albumini suppeditando inservit; et ad locum infimum et capacissimum protenditur, quem finem eius uteri appellat, in quo chalazae, inquit, duaeque membranae, et cortex efformantur.

And therefore Fabrizi established three parts of the second uterus: that is, the beginning, the middle part and the end. He says: «The initial part, turning itself into a thin and very soft membrane, gives rise to a larger orifice, almost similar to a tubule or a funnel. The other part» (which I call prolongation of the uterus) «being constituted by three transverse coils, is useful for supplying the albumen and stretches in a very low and capacious part» (which he calls end of his uterus) «where the chalazae and the two membranes and the shell are formed.»

Tota uteri substantia (praesertim circa plicas) tam in utero ipso, quam processu eius, multis amplisque venis scatet: plures tamen sunt arteriarum ramuli, quam venarum.

The whole substance of the uterus (above all around the folds) both in the uterus itself and in its prolongation, is full of quite a lot and big veins; nevertheless the arterial branches are more numerous than the venous ones.

Plicae, quae in parte uteri interiore obliquae et transversae apparent, carnosae substantiae sunt; et colore albissimo ac lacteo praeditae, aquam lentam exsudant; ut tota interior superficies, tum uteri tum processus eius, multo quasi tenui albumine madeat; unde vitellus descendens augetur, circumpositoque paulatim albumine perficitur.

The folds, appearing oblique and transverse in the inner part of the uterus, are made up by a fleshy substance, and, endowed with a pure white and milky colour, transude a viscous liquid in such way that the whole inner surface both of uterus and its prolongation is wet by an abundant almost slim albumen by which the going down yolk is increased and slowly accomplished by the albumen arranging itself around it.

Uterum ovis privatum raro reperies, sed vel in processus spiris inhaerens, vel in ipso utero contentum invenies. Si processum [213] hunc vacuum inflaveris, ceu obliquus et contortus tubulus apparebit, et ad modum cochleae sive turbinis in fastigium assurgens: talisque est ex plicis et spiris uteri fabrica, qualem in vulva nuper observavimus; ut licet nempe descendenti ovo via satis pateat, tamen vix ullus retrorsum sit, vel inflato aeri, ad superiora transitus.

You will rarely find an uterus devoid of eggs, but you will find an egg either attached to the coils of the prolongation or contained in the uterus itself. If you will inflate this empty prolongation, it will assume the aspect of an oblique and twisted tubule and raising like a shell of snail or with the shape of a whirlwind; and the structure of the uterus about the folds and the coils is like that we just observed in the vulva, so that, although the way is just wide enough for an egg going down, nevertheless there is not at all any passage backwards and upwards as being blown air.

Processus uteri cum suis spiris, in effoeta gallina, ut diximus, atque etiam in pullis iuvenculis, adeo imminuitur, ut in tenuissimas membranas abeat, et plane aboleatur, nullumque eius vestigium exstet; uti neque ovarii, aut infundibuli: solummodo ibidem (tanquam racemi radix) glandulosum quid et spongiosum, quod in gallinis coctis dulce sapit, reperitur; quemadmodum in viviparis (praesertim iuvenculis) pancreas, et thymus; quos ideo nostrates the sweet-bread, id est, panem dulcem, nominant.

The prolongation of the uterus with its coils, in the hen which ended to lay, as I said, and so also in the youngster pullets, gets smaller to such a point to change into very thin membranes and almost to entirely disappear, with no trace of it, as well as neither of the ovary nor of the infundibulum. At its place (as stock of the cluster) only something full of glands and spongy is found, which in the cooked hens has a sweet taste. Likewise are the pancreas and the thyme in the viviparous animals (above all youngster), which therefore our fellow countrymen call the sweet-bread.

Uterus, una cum processu, membranae opera dorso alligatur; quam propterea Fabricius mesometrium vocat: quod secundus uterus, una cum hoc membranoso venosoque corpore, concinne admodum intestinis et suo mesenterio comparari possit. Nam ut hoc, intestina; ita illud, processum oblongiorem a spina exortum firmat et detinet; ne loco motus, et implicatus, vitellorum transitum impediat: sed liber et apertus eosdem molliter excipiat. Per hoc mesometrium, plurima quoque vasa sanguine refertissima, in singulas uteri plicas ramificantur. Est itaque ortu, substantia, fabrica, usu, et officio, mesenterio analogon. Quinetiam ab uteri fundo, secundum longitudinem, ligamentum, instar taeniae, ad infundibulum usque protenditur, quale in superiore coli regione productum cernimus. Quasi portio quaedam exterioris tunicae tensa et contracta, ut reliquum processus in plicas et cellulas corrugetur. Ita scilicet intestino aliquo exempto, filoque per longitudinem unius lateris traducto et constricto, alterum eius latus in rugosas cellulas efformabis.

The uterus, together with the prolongation, is bound to the back thanks to a membrane, which therefore Fabrizi calls mesometrium «since the second uterus, together with this membranous and venous structure, in a very fitting way can be compared to the bowels and their mesentery». In fact, like the mesentery the bowels, so the mesometrium, born from the backbone, stabilizes and fixes the rather long prolongation, so that going away from the place, and winding itself, doesn't prevent the passage of the yolks, but empty and open it houses them with delicacy. Through this mesometrium, also numerous vessels full of blood are branching in the single folds of the uterus. So, for origin, composition, structure, use and function it is analogous to the mesentery. Besides, from the bottom of the uterus, a ligament, similar to a ribbon, longitudinally arranged, stretches out until the infundibulum, as that we see to stretch in the upper region of the colon. Almost like a tense and contracted portion of the external tunic, so that the rest of the prolongation wrinkles in folds and in little cells. Likewise, after having removed a segment of bowel and after having transferred and restricted it with a thread according to the length of only one side, you will turn the other its side into wrinkled little cells.

[214] Huiusmodi igitur est constitutio uteri in gallina foetante: carnosa scilicet, ampla, in longum latumque ductilis, anfractuosa, spiris et convolutionibus a podice sursum, secundum dorsi spinam protensa, atque infundibulo continuata.

Insofar this is the structure of the uterus in a hen laying eggs: that is, fleshy, wide, far and wide ductile, anfractuous, extending along the backbone in coils and wrappings starting from the cloaca upwards and continuing in the infundibulum.