THE VULYA. 



457 



no corpus spongiosum or urethra connected with it below. It consists 

 of two corpora cavernosa, which are attached by crura to the rami of 

 the ischium and pubes, and are united together by their flattened inner 

 surfaces so as to form an incomplete pectiniform septum. The body of 

 the clitoris, which is about an inch and a half long, but is hidden 

 beneath the mucous membrane, is surmounted by a small (ilans, con- 

 sisting of spongy erectile tissue. The glans is imperforate, highly 

 sensitive, and surrounded superiorly by a membranous fold, analogous 

 to the prepuce. There is a small suspensory ligament attached to the 

 upper border, like that of the penis, and in fi'out of this the clitoris is 

 dependent. The two ischio-cavernous muscles, named in the female 

 erectores cliforidis, have the same connections as in the male, being- 

 inserted into the crura of the corpora cavernosa. 



Nymphse. — From the glans and preputial covering of the clitoris 

 two narrow pendulous folds of mucous membrane pass backwards for 

 about an inch and a half, one on each side of the entrance to the 

 vagina. These are the nxjmpliai (labia interna v. minora). Their inner 

 surface is continuous with that of the vagina ; the external insensibly 

 passes into that of the labia majora. They contain vessels between the 

 lamiuffi of tegumentary membrane, but, according to Kobelt, no erectile 

 plexus ; indeed, they would seem to correspond to the cutaneous cover- 

 ing of the male urethra (supposed to be split open below), while the 

 erectile structure corresponding to the bulb and spongy body, in two 

 separate right and left halves, lies deeper, as will be presently explained. 

 (Kobelt Die mannlichen und weiblichen "Wohllustorgane, 18-44:.) 



Fk. 326. 



Fig. .326. — Lateral View of the Erectile 

 Structures op the External Organs in 

 THE Female (from Kobelt). | 



The blood-vessels have been injected, 

 and the skin and mucous membrane have 

 been removed ; a, bulbus vestibuli ; c, 

 plexus of veins named pars intermedia ; f, 

 glans clitoridis ; /, body of the clitoris ; A, 

 dorsal vein ; I, right cms clitoridis ; m, 

 vestibule ; n, right gland of Bartholin. 



Vestibule. — Between the nym- 

 phfe is the angular interval called 

 the vestibule, in which is situated 

 the circular orifice of the uretlira, 

 or meatus urinarius, about an inch 

 below the clitoris and just above 

 the entrance to the vagina. The 

 membrane which surrounds this 

 orifice is rather prominent in most 

 instances, so as readily to indicate 

 its situation. 



Orifice of the Vagina. — Immediately below the orifice of the 

 urethra is the entrance to the vagina, which, in the virgin, is usually 

 more or less narrowed by the hymen. This is a thin duplicature of 

 the mucous membrane, placed at the entrance to the vagina ; its form 

 varies very considerably in different persons, but is most frequently 

 semilunar, the concave margin being directed forwards towards the 



