ACTION OF THE FEMALE. 697 



no means necessary for effectual coition ; since it is a fact well established, 

 that fruitful intercourse may take place, when the female is in a state of nar- 

 cotism, of somnambulism, or even of profound ordinary sleep. It has been 

 supposed by some, that the os uteri dilates, by a kind of reflex action, to re- 

 ceive the semen ; but of this there is no evidence. The introduction of a 

 small quantity of the fluid just within the Vagina, appears to be all that is 

 absolutely necessary for conception ; for there are many cases on record, in 

 which pregnancy has occurred, in spite of the closure of the entrance to the 

 vagina by a strong membrane, in which but a very small aperture existed. 

 That the Spermatozoa make their way towards the Ovarium, and fecundate 

 the Ovum either before it entirely quits the Ovisac or very shortly afterwards, 

 appears to be the general rule in regard to the Mammalia ; and the question 

 naturally arises, by what means do they arrive there. It has been supposed 

 that the action of the cilia, which line the Fallopian tubes, might account for 

 their transit; but the direction of this is from the Ovaria towards the Uterus, 

 and would therefore be opposed to it. A peristaltic action of the Fallopian 

 tubes themselves may generally be noticed in animals killed soon after sexual 

 intercourse ; and in those which have a two-horned membranous Uterus, such 

 as is evidently but a dilatation of the Fallopian tube, this partakes of the same 

 movement, as may be well seen in the Rabbit : in animals, however, which 

 have a single Uterus with thicker walls (as in the Human female), it must 

 evidently be unavailable. Among the tribes whose Ova are fertilized out of 

 the body, the power of movement inherent in the Spermatozoa is obviously 

 the means by which they are brought in contact with the Ova : and it does 

 not seem unreasonable to suppose, that the same is the case in regard to the 

 higher classes ; and that the transit of these curious particles, from the Va- 

 gina to the Ovaries, is effected by the same kind of action as that which 

 causes them to traverse the field of the microscope. We shall now consider 

 the changes in the Ovum and its appendages, by which it is prepared for 

 fecundation. 



912. Up to the period when the Ovum is nearly brought to maturity, it re- 

 mains in the centre of the Ovisac or inner layer of the Graafian follicle ; and 

 it is supported in its place by the Retinacula, which connect its Tunica 

 Granulosa with the Membrana Granulosa that lines the ovisac. (See Fig. 6, 



ischium, and behind these are the transversi-perinei muscles. They are surrounded by very 

 loose cellular tissue. They are rounded, but somewhat elongated, being flat and bean- 

 shaped. Their long diameter is from 5 to 10 lines; their transverse diameter 2^ to 4j lines, 

 and they are from 2^- to 3 lines thick. The excretory duct is at the anterior edge of the 

 superior part of the gland, and runs beneath the constrictor vaginae, horizontally forwards 

 and inwards, to the inner face of the nympha, opening in front of the carunculas myrtiformes, 

 in the midst of a number of small mucous follicles. These glands were first discovered by 

 Duverney in the cow, about the middle of the seventeenth century. Bartholinns subse- 

 quently found them in the human female, and his observations were confirmed by Duver- 

 ney, Morgagni, Santorini, Peyer, &c. Haller denied their existence; and such structure 

 seems to have been forgotten until they were again described by Mr. Taylor (Dublin 

 Journal, vol. xiii. 1838). They are analogous to Cowper's glands in the male, according to 

 Tiedemann, and like them are sometimes wanting, and differ in size. In advanced age 

 they are said to diminish in size, and even disappear. They are present in the females of 

 all animals, where Cowper's glands exist in the males. They secrete a thick, tenacious, 

 grayish-white fluid, which is emitted in large quantities, at the termination of the sexual act, 

 most likely from the spasmodic contraction of the constrictor vaginae muscle, under which 

 they lie. Its admixture with the male semen is supposed to probably have some connection 

 with impregnation, and it has been suggested that it may be the vehicle of the fecundating 

 principle of the semen. These glands were probably known to the ancients, and it is doubt- 

 less their secretion which Hippocrates and others describe as the female semen. (1843.) 

 These glands have lately been described by Huguier of Paris, in the Archives d'Jlnatomie. 

 His description corresponds in every respect with that given above. (1847.) M. C.J 

 59 



