Sensitive innervation of the copulatory organ in Struthio camelus: comparison to the coresponding district in female proctodeum

The AA. have studied thè nerve component of male copulatory organ and ventral part of female proctodeum in thè ostrich. This paper represents thè concluding part of thè pian of research that aimed to verify some data and hypothesis referred in previous observations. The innervation of thè considered districts was always constituted by autonomie and sensitive somatic nerve components. The autonomie innervation was represented by isolated and grouped ganglion cells located along thè course of nerve bundles or in thè point where different nerve bundles converged. This nerve component was frequently in dose connection with thè blood vessels. The sensitive somatic innervation was constituted by free and capsulated nerve endings. The latter, always supplied by a typical structure and morphologically classified as Pacini, Pacini-like and genital's corpuscles, could be found either isolated or grouped within thè different layers of both thè examined anatomical territories. The grouped corpuscles, in particular Pacini's corpuscles, could organize simple and complex flower sprays, opposito-polar corpuscles and poikilomorphous fibres. Por thè first time thè capsule's lameEar organization in Pacini's corpuscles in Birds was documented by means of light microscope. The occurrence of genital corpuscles seemed to be exclusive in thè ventral part of female ostrich proctodeum, corresponding to thè male site in which lies thè copulatory organ.