The Descent of Man

manner which is normal in the lower members
of the group. These remarks will be rendered
clearer by the following illustrations.
In various mammals the uterus graduates from
a double organ with two distinct orifices and
two passages, as in the marsupials, into a single
organ, which is in no way double except from
having a slight internal fold, as in the higher
apes and man. The rodents exhibit a perfect
series of gradations between these two extreme
states. In all mammals the uterus is developed
from two simple primitive tubes, the inferior
portions of which form the cornua; and it is in
the words of Dr. Farre, "by the coalescence of
the two cornua at their lower extremities that
the body of the uterus is formed in man; while
in those animals in which no middle portion or
body exists, the cornua remain ununited. As
the development of the uterus proceeds, the
two cornua become gradually shorter, until at
length they are lost, or, as it were, absorbed