1998 



HUMAN ANATOMY. 



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Mucosa 



Epithelium 



Lumen '-^ 



Fold cut 

 across 



Circular 

 muscle 



Longitudinal- 

 muscle 





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ampulla, and thinnest and most relaxed in the infundibulum and fimbriae. The 

 mucous membrane is thrown into longitudinal folds, which increase from 5-15 low 

 ridges in the commencement of the isthmus to double the number in the ampulla, 

 where they attain a much greater height as well as complexity of arrangement, the 

 main folds being supplemented by secondary and tertiary ones, so that in transverse 

 section the lumen appears almost occluded by branching villus-like projections. The 

 surface of the mucosa is covered with a single layer of columnar epithelium (from 

 .01 5-. 020 mm. in height) provided with cilia that produce a current directed from 

 the infundibulum towards the uterus, and thus, while facilitating the progress of the 

 ova along the tube, retard the ascent of the spermatozoa. The elaborate plications 

 and recesses within the outer part of the ampulla favor the temporary retention of the 

 sexual cells and thereby promote the chance of their meeting, fertilization usually 

 taking place within this part of the tube. The vascular connective-tissue stroma of 



the folds, which in the 

 Fig. 1*695. chief plications may 



reach a thickness of .2 

 mm. , within the acces- 

 sory folds is reduced 

 to a narrow interepi- 

 thelial layer in places 

 measuring less than the 

 height of the covering 

 cells. The tunica pro- 

 pria of the mucosa is 

 directly continuous 

 with the intermuscular 

 connective tissue, and, 

 with the exception of a 

 few bundles prolonged 

 into the deepest part 

 of the mucous mem- 

 brane, does not contain 

 muscular tissue. 



The miisadat'coat, 

 most robust towards 

 the uterus and thinnest 

 at the infundibulum 

 (therefore the reverse 

 of the arrangement of 

 the mucosa), includes 

 an inner circular and an outer longitudinal layer of involuntary muscle. At the 

 isthmus, where the firmness of the tubal wall depends chiefly upon the muscular coat, 

 the circular layer is the thicker (from .5-1 mm.) and the longitudinal one repre- 

 sented by an incomplete stratum of muscle-bundles. Towards the infundibulum, on 

 the contrary, the longitudinal layer is better developed, the circular-muscle being 

 reduced to . 2 mm. or less in thickness. The surrounding fibrous tissue, sometimes 

 regarded as a distinct coat of the tube {tunica adventitia) , and the outer serous in- 

 vestment are only the usual connective tissue and peritoneal constituents of the broad 

 ligament, and, therefore, call for no further description in connection with the oviduct. 

 As evidenced in pathological conditions, and especially in tubal pregnancy, the wall 

 of the oviduct is capable of distention to a remarkable degree. 



Vessels. — The arteries supplying the oviduct are derived from the tubal 

 branches of the uterine and ovarian vessels. The branch from the uterine artery 

 {ramus tubarius a. 7iteri7i(s) passes in front of the utero-ovarian ligament to the 

 median end of the oviduct, along the under side of which it courses outward until it 

 meets the tubal branch from the ovarian artery. The latter {ramus tubarius a. 

 ovariccB) passes within the mesosalpinx, in front of the ovarian fimbria, towards the 

 outer part of the ampulla, distributing branches to the fimbriated extremity, and 

 mesially joins the tubal branch from the uterine. From the anastomotic branch so 



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Cross-section of oviduct near outer end of ampulla. X 35 



