FEMALE GENITAL SYSTEM: INTERNAL ORGANS 399 



states that they arise along the whole length of the pelvic bones as in the male. The 

 erector clitoridis muscle of each side passes obliquely inwards and forwards to become 

 attached to the anterior aspect of the base of the clitoris, where it finds insertion upon 

 the cavernous crura. The more superficial ventral fibres of these muscle bands do not 

 reach the cavernous bodies, but meet one another in a median raphe upon the antero- 

 ventral aspect of the clitoris (Fig. 11). 



The "interpelvic ligament" forms a broad ligamentous tract behind and above the 

 posterior lip of the vulva: it forms the substance of the posterior commissure of the 

 vulva. Laterally on each side it arises from the ischiac portions of the pelvic bones 

 confluently with the erector clitoridis muscles. The " interpelvic ligament " embraces 

 a much larger tract of fibres than in the male ; but this tract incorporates also the levator 

 ani muscle and contributions from the panniculus carnosus. 



INTERNAL ORGANS 



The clitoris 



The external form of the clitoris has already been described. In the foetus it was 

 tightly incurved and finger-like and its tip projected over the urinary aperture. In the 

 adult it projects outwards and backwards. 



At the base of the clitoris there is a fibrous bulbus clitoridis carrying the crura of the 

 corpus cavernosum (Fig. 11 o). The corpus cavernosum clitoridis has the Y-shaped 

 crus that is observed in the male. The stem of the Y occupies the shaft of the clitoris, 

 while the two arms of the crus project sharply upwards in the anterior part of the 

 bulbus (Fig. 1 1 n). They have a forwardly curved course and taper sharply towards 

 their upper forward extremities. Within the bulbus itself, the fibrous investments of the 

 cavernous bodies are immediately continuous with the fibrous mass that makes up the 

 substance of the bulbus. Traces of a spongy body were seen accompanying the cavernous 

 body on its anterior and dorsal face. The pudic arteries, veins and nerves to the clitoris 

 pass through the vascular foramen of the rectus abdominis muscle and over the anterior 

 faces of the erector muscles near their insertions upon the clitoris (Fig. 12). Thence 

 they pass to the tip of the organ in the same manner as the corresponding vessels and 

 nerves in the male. They pass along the posterior face of the clitoris, which is directed 

 towards the vulva. This face, therefore, although directed posteriorly, is homologous 

 with the anterior face of the penis. The clitoris may therefore be compared with the 

 penis turned back through 180 , so that its anterior end looks backwards and its tip 

 upwards. 



Meek, in the porpoise, found a strong tendon arising from the rectum and "passing 

 forwards in a tunnel between the erector, the levator ani and the sphincter vaginae". 

 This tendon expands into a muscle above the clitoris and " is inserted at the base of the 

 praeputial pouch". This, the retractor clitoridis, was the homologue of the retractor 

 penis of the male. It was not found, however, in the Fin whale, and no other author 

 mentions it either in the porpoise or in any other species. 



