a a ae 
1090 UROGENITAL SYSTEM. 
when that viscus is distended they are often two inches, or more, distant from one 
another. 
In the female, the ureter, near its termination, hes to the outer side of the 
cervix uteri and upper part of the vagina. It is accompanied in the lower part 
of its course by the uterine artery, which crosses it on its anterior aspect not far 
from its termination. Higher up it hes in the peritoneal fold which forms the 
posterior and lower boundary of the fossa ovarica (Fig. 770). 
Structure of the Ureter.—The wall of the ureter is thick and of a whitish 
colour. Within the outer fibrous coat (tunica adventitia) is a muscular coat 
(tunica muscularis) of unstriated muscle fibres. This latter consists of a layer of 
Vesical artery First sacral vertebra 
External iliac vessels | 
Obturator nerve = \ 
Obliterated hypogastric S x 
artery \ 
Vas deferens Oe \ 
14 
| 
Plica | 
umbilicalis 
lateralis Hi 
Obturator \ | 
Position of internal iliac 
artery. 
Ureter 
Ridge due to 
nerve fibres 
from hypo- 
castric 
plexus 
vessels [ 
Paravesical \ || 
fossa f |] Vas deferens 
Plica ) | ; 
vesicalis 
transversa ) 
Recto- 
vesical 
pouch 
Symphysis 
pubis 
Prostate | 
Opening of ureter into bladder 
| Rectum 
Portions of vasa deferentia cut in section 
Fic. 736.—MESsIAL SECTION OF AN ADULT MALE PELVIS. 
The coils of the small intestine which lay within the pelvis have been lifted out in order to give a view of the 
side wall of the pelvic cavity. The peritoneum is coloured blue. The separation of “the bladder from 
the prostate is indicated somewhat diagrammatically. 
circularly-disposed fibres enclosed between two layers of longitudinal fibres. The 
inner, Or mucous coat (tunica mucosa), which usually exhibits a number of longi- 
tudinally-disposed folds, possesses an epithelium resembling that of the bladder. 
Variations.—The ureter is sometimes represented by two tubes in its upper portion. In rarer 
cases it is double throughout its whole length, from the pelvis of the kidney to the bladder. 
THE BLADDER. 
The bladder (vesica urinaria) is a hollow viscus into which the ureters conduct 
the urine secreted by the kidneys. It is placed in the anterior part of the pelvic 
cavity, and les behind the symphysis pubis. The bladder is situated in front of 
the rectum, from which it is separated in the male by the seminal vesicles and the 
terminal portions of the vasa deferentia, and in the female by the vagina and 
uterus. Its wall is chiefly composed of muscular tissue, but the thickness of the 
wall and the size of the cavity depend on the amount of fluid contained within 
the organ. The opening into the urethra, or canal by which the urine leaves the 
bladder, is placed in the middle line of the under part of the bladder wall, not far 
