UTERUS (NORMAL ANATOMY). 



t>37 



into convoluted branches ; both open on the 

 inner surface of the membrane by small round 

 orifices, lined with epithelium, and set closely 

 together. 



In man the form of the uterine follicles is 

 by no means so definite as in the dog ; nor is 

 it possible by any mode of dissection with 

 which I am acquainted to isolate and display 

 them separately.* They form in fact a sys- 

 tem of tortuous canals ramifying in the sub- 

 stance of the mucous membrane, in which 

 they seem as it were to be excavated. They 

 are so closely set as apparently to possess no 

 distinct boundary wall, but each canal is sepa- 

 rated from those contiguous to it by a variable 

 thickness of parenchyma, consisting chiefly of 

 the elementary corpuscles and amorphous tis- 

 sue just described, together with a certain ad- 

 mixture of fibre-cells, usually found near the 

 basal ends of the glands. No section that I 

 have ever made has succeeded in exhibiting 

 even a single gland divided longitudinally in 

 such a way as to lay open the canal in its 

 entire length, but every section made per- 

 pendicular to the surface presents the same 

 appearance of numerous close-set meandering 

 canals laid open for short distances, and giving 

 to the surfaces of the section an outline 



Fis. 438. 



whether by any indirect communication with 

 the uterine vessels, which many considerations 

 both physiological and pathological seem to 

 point out as at least possible. The difficulties 

 attending this part ot the enquiry have been 

 ably illustrated by Dr. Sharpey, and my own 

 investigations fully confirm his statements upon 

 this point. Nevertheless I have in many in- 

 stances succeeded in distinctly observing the 

 blind termination of these canals towards the 

 muscular coat.* 



When sections of the mucous membrane 

 are made parallel with, instead of perpendicular 

 to, the surface, these canals are seen divided 

 across. The appearance then presented is 

 that of numerous round or oval apertures, 

 which are more distinct in proportion as the 

 section is made nearer to the uterine cavity. 



The uterine glands are lined by a fine den- 

 tate epithelium, the cells of which are only 

 slightly coherent at their margins. 



The orifices by which they terminate upon 

 the surface of the uterine cavity vary in di- 

 ameter from 2 icy'' to -5^". 



In addition to the glands or canals already 

 described, there may be often observed inter- 

 mixed with them short mucous crypts, or even 

 closed follicles. These appear to have been 

 little noticed in the uterine cavity, but they 

 are very distinctly seen when accidentally dis- 

 tended by accumulation of fluid. They then 

 constitute a variety of those growths, which in 

 more advanced stages have been designated 

 by Dr. Oldham channel polypi. 



The arrangement of the capillary vessels of 

 the uterine mucous membrane is peculiar and 



Fig. 439. 



Section of the entire thickness of the uterine mucous 

 membrane (decidua) in the unimpregnated state, 

 with a small portion of the muscular coat attached. 



The pale tortuous lines exhibit the course of the 

 canals, termed uterine glands, the darker inter- 

 mediate substance forms their walls. The liner 

 lines are the capillaries of the mucous membrane 

 injected. {Ad Nat.) 



exactly resembling the cerebral convolu- 

 tions. On account of this peculiarity it is 

 difficult to determine whether these so-called 

 glands consist of single isolated canals, or of 

 a series communicating with each other. For 

 the same reason it is also difficult to ascertain 

 the precise mode of their termination towards 

 the muscular coat, whether in a blind extremity 

 in every case, as Weber represents them, or 



* It appears to me that the well-known repre- 

 sentations of the human uterine glands by E. H- 

 Weber (Zusatze zur Lehre vom Baue und d*en Ver- 

 richt der Geschlechtsorgane, Taf. viii. f. 4, 5.) are 

 too definite, and should be regarded rather as dia- 

 grams than actual representations of what is seen 

 in any mere section. Though it should be observed 

 that these figures are taken from the pregnant 

 uterus where the glands have enlarged and become 

 more distinct. 



Net-work of capillaries on the surface of the mucous 

 membrane of the uterus. 



a, from the botly ; b, from the canal leading to 

 the Fallopian tube. In the centre of each of the 

 meshes is the orifice of a uterine gland. {Ad Nat.) 



characteristic. The capillaries, which are of 

 large size, usually descend between the canals 

 of the uterine glands, giving to them a few 



* Upon this subject see further, p. 666. 



