296 



HISTOLOGY. 



, Fundus 



- Vagina 



FIG. 339. THE DORSAL HALF 

 OF A VIRGIN UTERUS. % 

 natural size. (After 

 Rieffel.) 



except in childhood and old age they are numerous in the muscularis 

 also. Blood vessels are highly developed between the muscle layers and 



in the mucosa. The lymphatics form large ves- 

 sels in the mesentery of the tube. Nerves supply 

 the muscles and after branching freely in the mu- 

 cosa ascend to the epithelium. 



UTERUS. 



The uterus is a muscular, pyriform organ, 

 flattened dorso-ventrally. It is about two and a 

 half inches long, receiving the uterine tubes at 

 its upper end or fundus, and ending below in the 

 vagina. It is divided into fundus, corpus and 

 cervix. The triangular cavity of the corpus and 

 fundus opens into the canal of the cervix 

 through the internal orifice; the canal communi- 



cates with the vagina through the external orifice of the uterus. The 



lining of the cervix presents a feather-like arrangement of folds on its 



dorsal and its ventral sur- 



face; these are the plicae 



palmatae. The walls of the 



uterus consist of a tunica 



mucosa, muscularis and se- 



rosa. 



The thick muscularis 



consists chiefly of inter- 



woven circular and oblique 



fibers. A thinner outer 



longitudinal layer contin- Musc 



uous with that of the tube, 



is more or less separated 



from the circular layer by 



connective tissue containing 



many large blood vessels. 



The outer layer borders 



upon the serosa and is 



sometimes considered as 



belonging with the subserous 



tissue. Inside of the circular layer an inner longitudinal layer is described 



by Professor Stohr, and the three layers are said to be quite distinct in the 



cervix. More generally only two layers are recognized, an inner oblique 



Mucosa 



/a 



:ularis. \ 



Serosa. 



FIG. 340. FROM A TRANSVERSE SECTION OF THE MIDDLE 

 OF THE UTERUS OF A GIRL FIFTEEN YEARS OLD. X 10. 



a, Epithelium; b, tunica propria; c, glands; i, inner muscular 

 layer; 2, middle muscular layer; 3, outer muscular layer. 



