Pistil

“ In some flowers, we meet with beautiful contrivances for securing the fecundation of their pistils. Thus, such as are erect have usually the stamens longer than the pistils, whilst in pendulous flowers it will be found that the pistils are the longest and the stamens the shortest. By this admirable relative adjustment, the pollen, in falling, comes into contact with the pistil. ”

“ In its complete form a pistil consists of three parts ovary, at the base, containing the bodies which become seeds, style (Gr. στῦλος, pillar) , and stigma (Gr. στίγμα, mark, στίζειν, to brand) , the part which in impregnation receives the pollen. ”

“ The most essential region of the pistil is the ovary, for it contains the ovules. Next in importance is the stigma, for it must receive the pollen-grains. The style is of least importance, and therefore is sometimes wanting, the stigma being directly upon the ovary. ”

“ Those flowers in which the pistil as a whole extends towards the right hand, facing in the same direction as the flower, will be called right-handed, and those in which the pistil as a whole extends toward the left, left-handed. It will be seen that, since the tips of pistil and large stamen approach each other, as above described, the tip of the pistil in a right-handed flower turns considerably toward the left, and vice versa. The flowers on the right-hand side of the raceme, as we pass out from the central axis of the plant, are always left-handed, and those on the left side, right-handed. ”

“ Commencing in the centre we find in both a pistil, consisting of an ovary at the base and a stigma at the top and a style between. In the Dandelion the stigma is split in halves, while in the morning-glory it is not split but has three little knobs. Around the pistil come the stamens in each case. Each stamen is composed of two parts: a slender stem (the filament) and a little sac at the end (the anther) which is filled with pollen dust. In both cases the filaments grow out of the sides of the corolla. ”

“ An organ, serving for two purposes, may become rudimentary or utterly aborted for one, even the more important purpose, and remain perfectly efficient for the other. Thus, in plants, the office of the pistil is to allow the pollen-tubes to reach the ovules within the ovarium. The pistil consists of a stigma supported on the style; but in some Compositæ, the male florets, which of course cannot be fecundated, have a rudimentary pistil, for it is not crowned with a stigma ”

“ Here each carpel is an open leaf, or with some introflexion, bearing ovules along its margins; and each placenta consists of the contiguous [Pg 109] margins of two pistil-leaves grown together. There is every gradation between this and the three-celled ovary with the placentæ in the axis, even in the same genus, sometimes even in different stages in the same pistil (Fig. 335, 336) .
§ 2. GYMNOSPERMOUS GYNŒCIUM.
313. The ordinary pistil has a closed ovary, and accordingly the pollen can act upon the contained ovules only indirectly, through the stigma. ”

“ Congestions, irritation and even inflammation of the Urinary Organs often occur in men, either alone or as a complication of Seminal Disease and Weakness. The Seminal Vesicles lie just behind the bladder, while the Seminal Ducts pass through the body of the Prostate Gland, and open into the urethra (or urine channel) upon its surface (see Fig. 5) . Hence, any inflammation or congestion of this large gland that lies at the root of the organ and neck of the bladder, is almost certain to produce Seminal Weakness, Losses and Impotence. ”

“ Functional disturbance of the genito-urinary apparatus is rarer, or at least more difficult to detect. The animals refuse drink; micturition seems to be suspended or very difficult. The urine may be albuminous or rose-coloured, in consequence of the presence of hæmatin; more rarely it is purulent or sanguinolent. There may also be urethritis, cystitis, pyelitis, and nephritis, with the passage of hyalin cylinders in the urine, although this is not always the case.
In females the mucous membrane of the vagina and lips of the vulva usually seem congested and œdematous ”

“ Each terminates considerably in front of the cloaca. Each ureter begins at the anterior end of the kidney, and thence proceeds on, its inner and dorsal border, receiving ducts from the interspaces of the numerous lobes. In the male each ureter opens upon a papilla, together with the vas deferens; in the female the ureter is joined by a blind canal, the vestige of the male duct. No snake has a urinary bladder. The urinary excretion is white, chalky, consisting mainly of uric acid in crystals, with very little fluid.
In the Lacertilia the kidneys are more posteriorly placed than in snakes. ”

“ Among the earliest symptoms, is some modification in the act of micturition. Straining a few seconds before urine comes, retention, incontinence and dribbling, discharge in a small or weak stream, and sudden arrest of the flow and the last few drops may contain muco-pus showing abundance of spermatic crystals, on the addition of ammonia phosphate. Impaction of the rectum tends to occur sooner or later, the animal making little effort to unload the viscus, and the overdistended organ becoming more and more atonic, congested and catarrhal and reacting injuriously on the urinary organs. ”

“ The hinder part of the kidney is the predominant renal organ. There is a common uro-genital duct, into which a seminal vesicle, which is especially large in early spring, opens. This is the permanent condition of the frog. In the rabbit, for urogenital duct, we have ureter and vas deferens; the testes and that anterior part of the primitive kidney, the epididymis, shift back into the scrotal sacs, and the ureters shift round the rectum and establish a direct connection with the bladder, carrying the genital ducts looped over them. ”

“ When urine contains a larger amount of chemical constituents than it can conveniently hold in solution, a certain quantity crystallizes out, and may be deposited in the kidney or in the bladder. If the crystals run together in the kidney the resulting concretion may either remain in that organ or may find its way into the bladder, where it may remain to form the nucleus of a larger vesical calculus, or, especially in the case of females, it may, while still small, escape from the bladder during micturition. ”

“ With paralysis of the bladder the penis may be pendent out of the sheath, or being retained within it, the urine may dribble constantly into and from that cavity, and the vulva may be soft and flaccid. When the anus is involved, the adjacent part of the rectum usually participates becoming overloaded, the sphincter is soft and lax and allows a constant oozing, and the exposure of the mucosa. The paralytic tail hangs between the thighs, limp and flaccid, and becomes saturated with manure and in females with urine. ”

“ When this has been made quite clear, then, before the animal urinates, one has to tie a ligature round his penis and then to squeeze the bladder all over; still nothing goes back through the ureters to the kidneys. Here, then, it becomes obvious that not only in a dead animal, but in one which is still living, the ureters are prevented from receiving back the urine from the bladder. These observations having been made, one now loosens the ligature from the animal’s penis and allows him to urinate, then again ligatures one of the ureters and leaves the other to discharge into the bladder. ”

“ If the urine comes acid, but pus-laden, from the kidney, it will soon assume the contrary reaction in the bladder, and the pus will be changed by the ammonia into so-called muco-pus; the cells supposed to be characteristic of the pelvis of the kidney will, like the pus-cells, be so altered by the same causes, and so intermixed with similar cells from the bladder, that the distinction will be difficult or impossible. The presence of a few hyaline casts is very likely to be noticed, and indicates irritation, or perhaps a more decided implication, of the renal substance. ”

“ The search for casts must be carefully made. The urine must be fresh, since hyaline casts soon dissolve when it becomes alkaline. It should be thoroughly centrifugalized. When the sediment is abundant, casts, being light structures, will be found near the top. In cystitis, where casts may be entirely hidden by the pus, the bladder should be irrigated to remove as much of the pus as possible and the next urine examined. In order to prevent solution of the casts the urine, if alkaline, must be rendered acid by previous administration of boric acid or other drugs. ”

“ At first the urine is quite bloody, but it gradually becomes clearer, and it is only at the end of micturition that muco-purulent flakes are expelled, in which numerous eggs and even embryos are found; the urine contains also epithelial cells, more or less pus, eggs, and occasionally embryos. On micturition sharp pains are felt at the base of the penis or at the gland, possibly due to the passage of eggs. The passage of eggs through the walls of the bladder gives rise to cystitis; blood becomes more abundant in the urine after fatigue or coitus ”

“ This is accomplished in the larger animals with the oiled hand in the rectum, the nails having been pared short and even to avoid injury to the mucosa. In ponies and yearlings the kidney may be felt, and this may be true also of mature animals of larger species in cases of hypertrophy or floating kidney. The ureters, bladder and intrapelvic urethra are easily felt in the male. The empty bladder lies on the anterior border of the pelvis; when full, it projects forward into the abdomen but retains its pyriform or, in the very young animal, its fusiform shape. ”

“ In these cases appetite may be retained in greater or less degree, but the intestinal peristalsis is usually 453weak and imperfect, the fæces small in quantity and dry, and the bladder atonic so that the urine may have to be drawn off with the catheter. It usually retains the deep red color, or improvement may be heralded by a change to a dirty grayish hue. If, however, it shows an excess of albumen, cylindroid casts entangling renal epithelium and white or red globules it will indicate the access of diffuse nephritis and a prolonged or even a fatal illness. ”

“ Of this many die, who have drank much vinous spirit, and some of them recover by voiding a quantity of white mucus, like chalk and water; and others by voiding a great quantity of sand, or small calculi. This hardened mucus frequently becomes the nucleus of a stone in the bladder. The salts of the urine, called microcosmic salt, are often mistaken for gravel, but are distinguishable both by their angles of crystallization, their adhesion to the sides or bottom of the pot, and by their not being formed till the urine cools. ”

“ Anything that will add to the interference of the return circulation only exaggerates the tendency to penis engorgement; this increases the difficulty of urination, which, by the retention that results, in turn increases the constriction at the root of the penis, and adds to the already difficult return circulation. The bladder by its urine, and the [243] penis by its blood, actually form, by their mutual pressures, an impassable dam at the root of the organ. ”

“ Motion, particularly jolting as in rough riding, causes pain. This pain is referred to the lower part of the belly, to the perineum, to the end of the penis, the urethra, the anus. The straining after urination may be absent or of the most intense character, leading to prolapse of the rectum and causing excruciating torture. The urine always contains pus scattered through it, and generally also more or less pus in that semi-solid condition known as stringy mucus. Stringy mucus is pus gelatinized by the ammonia of the decomposing urine. ”

“ The inner aperture of the funnel is on a level of the middle of the testicle or ovary, the outer within the ureter; and it is a noteworthy fact that only at certain periods of the life of the fish this outer aperture is found to be open,—at other times the peritoneal funnel appears as a closed blind sac within the ureter. The mode of passage of the semen into the funnel is not known.
In Polypterus and Amia, proper oviducts, with abdominal apertures in about the middle of the abdominal cavity, are developed; they coalesce with the ureters close to the common urogenital aperture. ”

“ When there occurs an external ulcer in the perinæum, and the urine is in part discharged that way, the disease can not be mistaken. Otherwise from the quantity of matter, it is generally supposed to come from the bladder, or prostate gland; and the urine, which escapes from the ruptured urethra, mines its way amongst the muscles and membranes, and the patient dies tabid, owing to the want of an external orifice to discharge the matter. ”

“ The diagnosis of eversion of the bladder presents no difficulty. The everted mass appears to have a narrow neck opposite the meatus, and is seen to form a reddish, unctuous mass. The mucous membrane now forms the external coat and appears covered with mucus so long as inflammation does not occur.
The urine continually escapes from the ureters (which open on the surface of the mucous membrane) as it is formed, and flows away by the lower commissure of the vulva. The vulva is half open, and the prominence formed by the bladder projects beyond it. ”