Ulisse Aldrovandi
Ornithologiae tomus alter - 1600
Liber
Decimusquartus
qui
est
de Pulveratricibus Domesticis
Book
14th
concerning
domestic
dust bathing fowls
transcribed by Fernando Civardi - translated by Elio Corti - reviewed by Roberto Ricciardi
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Huius
cutis, vel praeputii foramen unicum existit, quod vulgares
podicem Gallinarum credunt. Praeputium hoc formam habet
sph<a>ericam, et musculum subiectum figura etiam
sph<a>erica. Nam obtinet maiorem capacitatem, et cum utrumque
foramen cooperiri debeat, cutis etiam maxime erat dilatanda, cui
maxime extensioni sph<a>erica figura est accom<m>oda:
prominet cutis haec praeputium referens, vel ipsius proportionale,
turgidum, globosum, instar papillarum apicis. Musculus cutem praeputii
subvestiens, sph<a>ericam, ut diximus, etiam figuram habet,
cuius latitudo pollic{r}is existit. Fibras autem obtinuit non {parerellas}
<parallelas>, vel aeque distantes, quemadmodum sphincter
intestini humani, sed a circumferentia ad centrum conversas, et
diametrales: quemadmodum ex subiecta figura demonstrabitur. Cur vero
os uteri ad spinam, vel supernam partem, ponatur, coitum ipsum causam
esse opinamur. |
There
is a single foramen of this skin, or prepuce, which common people
believe is the anus of hens. This prepuce has a circular shape and has
the underlying muscle circularly shaped too. For it has a larger width,
and being that it must cover both foramina, also the skin had to widen
out as much as possible, and the circular shape is suited for its
utmost stretching out: this skin sticks out reminding a prepuce, or
something analogous to it, turgid, globular, like tip of nipples. The
muscle underlying the skin of the prepuce also has a circular shape,
as I said, and is one thumb wide. But it does not have parallel fibers,
or equidistant, as the sphincter of the human intestine has, but which
from the circumference converge to the center with a radial direction:
as it will be indicated in the picture below. Moreover, why the
opening of the oviduct is located near the spine, or upper part, I
think that the reason is the coitus itself. |
|
AA. Gallinae pudenda. O. Os uteri ad spinam superne. DDDD. Circumferentia musculi praeputium constringentis. V. Exitus intestinorum, vel podex ad ventrem inferne. EEEEE. Fibrae a circumferentia ad centrum pertinentes. |
AA. External genitals of a hen. O. Opening of the uterus [of the vagina] located
above near the spine. DDDD. Circumference of the muscle which constricts the
prepuce. V. Opening of the intestine, or podex, located below
near the belly. EEEEE. Fibers stretching from the
periphery to the center. |
|
Nam
supergressu haec animalia coeuntia, instrumenta in proximo habere
oportebat, quo facilius, et promptius invicem coniungerentur. Exitus
praeterea intestinorum deorsum versus merito vergit. Nam infra etiam {ellius}
<illius> est officium, quemadmodum scripsit Aristoteles, quod
intelligere debemus ratione ipsorum excrementorum ex {elementati}
<elementari> portione terrestri ad inferiora tendentium. |
In
fact, because of mounting each other, it was necessary that when
mating these animals had close devices, so that they can join each
other more easily and quickly. Furthermore the exit of the intestine
is consequently slanting downwards. For its function is also carried
on downwards, as Aristotle
wrote, and we have to understand it as depending from the excrements
themselves, since they are made up by earth portion of the element, so
they are tending downwards. |
|
Substantia
uteri membranea, et crassa est (uterum nunc proprie dictum
intelligo). Hoc enim corpus maxime omnium dilatatur, ac extenditur, et
in ipsum recipitur ovum iam auctum, ac propemodum absolutum. Figura
est concava, oblonga latior qua ad exitum pertinet, in longitudinem
trium digitorum, caeterum angusta, rotundiorque intestini tenuis
formam repraesentans. Porrigitur enim ab infimo abdomine iuxta ipsorum
intestinorum usque ad locum conceptionis ovorum sub septo transverso,
estque cum extenditur, longitudine dodrantali[1],
cuius longitudinis ratione membranam obtinuit a spina dorsi
proportionalem omnino, ac persimilem intestinorum mesenterio, quam et
venae frequentes percurrunt cum ad nutritionem ipsius uteri, tum ad
ovi intrinsecus contenti, dum pertransit a loco sub septo transverso
ad ipsius uteri exitum, alitionem. Membrana autem spinae colligans, et
connectens eadem prorsus existit ipsi mesenterio intestinorum, quin
im<m>o eadem est, et substantia, et origine: quapropter
consensum habet uterus praesertim cum ipsis intestinis. |
The
substance of the uterus is membranous and thick (I am now speaking of
the uterus properly so-called). For this anatomical formation widens
out and stretches out more than any other, and in it is held the egg
already increased and almost completed. Its shape is concave, oblong,
broader where its exit is located, and three fingers in length, for
the rest it is narrow and somewhat round, so reminds the shape of the
slender intestine. For it stretches from the lowest part of the
abdomen, near the exit of the intestine, up to the place where the
eggs are conceived under the transverse septum, and it is long ¾
of foot
[around 23 cm] when extended; but as regards to its
length it has been provided with a membrane of proportional size
stretching from the dorsal spine, and quite similar to the mesentery
of the intestine, and several veins run through it not only for
nourishment of the oviduct itself, but also for sustenance of the egg
contained within it while passing from its place under the transverse
septum to the exit of the uterus [of the vagina]. Afterward, the
membrane joining and connecting it with the spine is quite similar to
the intestinal mesentery itself, and in fact it is identical both as
substance and origin: that is the reason why the oviduct has a
specific connection chiefly with intestine itself. |
|
Figura
uteri inaequalis, alibi angusta, oblonga, alibi lata, brevis: iuxta
hanc varietatem varia quoque sortiri nomina debet. Nam uteri latitudo,
infimo abdomini proxima, et in qua ovum iam absolutum continetur{;}<,>
est ipsemet uterus{,}<;> reliquum vero corpus angustum, oblongum,
rotundum, quod ad septum transversum extenditur, vel uteri stomachus,
vel uterus productus, extensusve, vel uteri gula nuncupari posset. Est
autem membranea, et tenuis, admodum diversa a reliquo utero protenso,
et a substantia ipsius uteri, qui ad exitum iacet. Nam finis hic
membraneus subtilis, et pellucidus existit, ac exanguis. Intestinum
quoque uteri ratione figurae, et quantitatis cum longitudine
rotunditatem cavernosam habeat, merito diceretur, cui accedit
membranae occasio hanc uteri extensionem, vel productionem spinae
colligantis, quod mesenterium uterinum appellamus. Intermedia pars
uteri, quae est illius portio ab utero proprie dicto, finem
interiacens crassam obtinet substantiam, albam, lacti similem, et
[202] in semetipsam considentem, cuius {mesereon} <mesenterion>
multiplices venas habet. |
The
shape of the oviduct is unequal, in one point narrow and oblong,
elsewhere broad and short: depending on this variety - of shape - it
must also receive various names. In fact the wide portion of the
oviduct, very near the lowest part of the abdomen, and in which is
held the egg already completed, is the uterus properly so-called; but
the remaining narrow, oblong and round section, stretching toward the
transverse septum, could be called or esophagus of the uterus, or
lengthened as well as extended uterus, or throat of the uterus.
Afterwards, it is membranous and thin, quite different from the
remaining part of the uterus and from the substance of that part of
the uterus which lies near the exit. For this final section is
membranous, thin and diaphanous, and bloodless. Deservedly it could
also be called intestine of the uterus as regards to its shape and
extension, being that because of its length it has a hollow
circumference, to which is adding the purchase of the membrane
connecting this extension or prolongation of the uterus to the spine,
a thing which I call mesentery of the uterus - dorsal ligament of the
oviduct. The intermediate part of the oviduct - the magnum,
which is located between the uterus properly so-called and its end -
the upper extremity, has a substance thick, white, similar to milk,
and settled in itself, and its mesentery has several veins. |
[1] Per la struttura e le dimensioni dei vari tratti dell'apparato genitale della gallina secondo l'odierna terminologia anatomica si veda Summa Gallicana.