20I0 HUMAN ANATOMY. 



the mucosa the capillaries surround the glands and form a superficial net-work beneath 

 the epithelium. 



The vei/is, already of considerable size within the inner muscular layer, emerge 

 from the myometrium and form a dense plexus of thin-walled vessels that surround 

 the uterine artery at the sides of t^e uterus between the layers of the broad ligament. 

 The veins are arranged as an upper, middle, and lower group. The first of these 

 includes the veins from the fundus and upper part of the body, which become tribu- 

 tary to trunks that join the ovarian veins and leave the pelvis by way of the sus- 

 pensory ligament. The middle group comprises the venous radicles from the lower 

 half of the body and upper part of the cervix that unite into one or two main stems 

 that accompany the uterine artery. The lower group is formed by the veins from 

 the most dependent part of the uterus, the anterior vaginal wall, and the posterior 

 surface of the bladder. These unite into robust ascending stems that become tribu- 

 tary to the trunks following the uterine artery. The middle and lower groups freely 

 anastomose with the vesical plexus and also communicate with the hemorrhoidal 

 plexus. 



The lymphatics, within the mucosa not demonstrable as definite vessels but only 

 as uncertain clefts, constitute an intermuscular net-work of which the larger trunks 

 follow the blood-vessels and establish communication between the cervical lymphatics 

 and those of the body. On emerging from the myometrium a superficial ( subserous) 

 plexus is formed, especially over the posterior surface in the vicinity of the lateral 

 angles ; large trunks also accompany the blood-vessels along the sides of the uterus. 

 The lymphatics from the cervix, usually two or three stems, pass to the lymph-nodes 

 occupying the angle between the external and internal iliac arteries. According to 

 Bruhns,^ those from the remaining parts of the uterus follow different paths : one 

 set, from the body, goes likewise to the iliac nodes ; another, from the fundus, 

 courses towards the ovary, and in company with the trunks from the latter organ 

 follows the ovarian artery to terminate in the lumbar nodes. A third set, also from 

 the fundus, eventually gains the lumbar glands after joining the lymphatics of the 

 Fallopian tube, while a fourth group diverges from the fundus along the round liga- 

 ment to become afferents of the inguinal lymph-nodes. In addition to free anasto^ 

 mosis among themselves, the uterine lymphatics communicate with those of the 

 vagina, rectum, ovaries. Fallopian tubes, and broad ligament. 



The nerves of the uterus, being chiefly destined for the involuntary muscle, 

 are numerous and of large size to correspond with the highly developed myome- 

 trium. They are derived not only from the sympathetic system from the utero- 

 vaginal subdivision of the pelvic plexus (the continuation from the hypogastric), but 

 also directly from the second, third, and fourth sacral spinal nerves. According to 

 the classic description of Frankenhauser, the utero-vaginal plexus divides into two 

 parts, the smaller of which is distributed to the posterior and lateral parts of the 

 uterus, while the larger includes a chain of minute ganglia along the cervix and 

 vaginal vault. One of these, the cervical ganglion, is especially large, and lies behind 

 the upper part of the vagina, receiving, in addition to the sympathetic, spinal fibres 

 from the sacral nerves and giving off twigs to the uterus. These latter pass to the 

 uterine walls between the layers of the broad ligament, particularly at the sides in 

 company with the blood-vessels, and penetrate the myometrium, to the fibre-cells of 

 which the nerve-filaments are chiefly distributed ; others pass into the mucosa to end 

 beneath the epithelium. 



Development and Changes. — In consequence of the medial rotation of the 

 ventral border of the Wolffian body, the relations of the Miillerian to the Wolfifian 

 duct change. Instead of lying laterally to the Wolffian duct, as it does above, the 

 Miillerian duct gains the inner side of that tube as they pass into the urogenital fold 

 (page 2038) which prolongs the lower end of the Wolfifian body into a median 

 strand known as the genital cord. Within the latter, formed by the fusion of the 

 plicae urogenitales, the two Miillerian ducts lie next the mid-line, side by side and in 

 contact with the Wolfifian duct on either hand. Beginning about the eighth week, 

 the opposed surfaces become united, the intervening septum disappears and the two 

 Miillerian ducts are converted into a single tube from which the uterus is derived. 



' Archiv f. Anat. u. Phys., 1898. 



