George W. Bartelmez h i 



From this ligament* the sheet of the superior nicsometrium takes 

 its origin. Together with the air sac it arises from the peritoneum at 

 the left side of the vertebral column and passes on to the dorsal wall 

 ■ of the uterus. From here muscle fibers descend to the superior part 

 of the oviduct on the surface of which they are so thinned out that 

 they are hardly visible, and, forming the exceedingly delicate muscu- 

 lar tunic of the oviduct, they extend to the inferior mesomctrium. The 

 internal glandular tunic of the oviduct is thinned out to the utmost 

 in the infundibulum, ending at its fimbriated border; the extension 

 of the mesometrial muscle on the other hand is more developed so 

 that this border seems to be composed entirely of muscular tissue.f 

 As a matter of fact, the muscle fibers of the fimbria [limbiis] form a 

 very delicate and complex net; toward its margin the meshes become 

 smaller and more numerous, ending as very fine ones in the somewhat 

 crenated margin (fig. 20). The principal direction of the transverse 

 fibers is perpendicvdar to the margin of the infundibulum. In the 

 mid-sagittal line of the infundibulum the muscle fibers run together 

 fiom both sides of the fimbriae so that they produce a transversely 

 striated suture; bttt w'here the mouth of the infundibulum gapes open 

 they are continued through its walls to the oviduct. In addition, other 

 fibrils parallel to the margins of the fimbriae are interwoven at right 

 angles to the fibers mentioned above. These fibrils take their origin 

 from the margins of the infundibulum, namely from the anterior 

 ligament and from the uterus, and extend on both sides through- 

 out its length. When these fibers contract, they bring about the 

 utmost wrinkling of the fimbriae. The remarkable mobiHty of the 

 infundibulum mentioned above is ascribed to these fibers. The rest 

 of the mesometrial muscle fibers are prolonged transversely to the 

 oviduct, communicating with one another and mutually intertwining 

 by means of elongate folds and branches so that transparent areas 

 [12] remain. These areas consist solely of the layers of the serous mem- 

 brane and are also interwoven with very delicate ner\e fibers that 

 run transversely and with secondary oviducal vessels that intersect at 

 sharp angles; the principal vessels, however, which are closest to the 

 origin of the mesometrium, run parallel to the oviduct. 



The -^vidth of the mesometrium is not everywhere the same. For, 

 as the OA-iduct bends up or do^vn in three flexures, the mesometrium 

 also becomes shorter or looser. Tlie muscle fibers of the mesometrium. 

 just as they reach the oviduct, diverge from each other and pass about 

 it, surrounding it with a very dclioite muscular membrane, in ^\•hich 

 you will hunt in vain for the longitudinal fibers of which authors 



* Perhaps the taenia of Spangcnbeig (as cited), p. 55. 



t Spangenbeig (as cited), p. 55, seems to maiiiiain llic tonliary. 



