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HUMAN ANATOMY. 



Fig. 



J 703. 



Intravaginal 

 portion of 

 cervix uteri 



THE VAGINA. 



The vagina is a flattened muscular tube, lined with mucous membrane and about 

 7.5 cm. (3 in.) long, that extends from the genital cleft enclosed by the labia minora 

 below to the uterus above, to the lower segment of which it is attached a short dis- 

 tance above the external os. From this relation and the direction, downward and 

 backward, of the portio vaginalis, the vagina is seemingly pierced obliquely by the 

 uterus, whose external os looks towards the posterior vaginal wall. In the erect 

 posture the long axis of the vagina is approximately straight, directed from below 

 upw'ard and backward, and corresponds in general with the lower part of the pelvic 

 axis. With the horizontal plane it forms an angle of about 70°, and with the axis 

 of the cervix one that is usually somewhat more than a right angle. 



The arched upper blind end of the vagina, known as the vault (fornix vaginae), 

 is largely occupied by the obliquely placed portio vaginalis and thereby reduced to 

 an annular groove that surrounds the neck of the uterus. This groove is deepest 



behind, where it constitutes the posterior fornix, a 

 narrow pouch from i . 5-2 cm. in length lying between 

 the cervix and the adjacent vaginal wall. The recess 

 in front of the cervix, the anterior fornix , is shallow 

 and only slightly marked. In consequence, the length 

 of the posterior wall of the vagina, measured from the 

 summit of the posterior fornix to the vaginal orifice, is 

 from 8.5-9 cm. (3^-3^ in.), that of the anterior 

 wall being about 7 cm. (2^ in.), or from 1.5-2 cm. 

 shorter. 



The opening at the lower end of the vagina (ori- 

 ficiura vaginae) is contracted, and in the virgin is still 

 further narrowed by a duplicature of mucous mem- 

 brane, the hymen, of variable form but usually cre- 

 scentic in outline, that stretches from the posterior 

 wall forward and occludes more or less the vaginal 

 entrance. After rupture the hymen is for a time 

 represented by a series of irregular or fimbriated pro- 

 jections that become the carunadce hymenales. These 

 surround the opening of the vagina and undergo re- 

 duction and partial efTacement after childbirth. The 

 anterior and posterior walls of the main and widest 

 part of the canal (corpus vaginae) are modelled by 

 median elevations (coluninae rugarum), from which 

 numerous oblique folds diverge laterally. These 

 markings, most pronounced in the lower half of the 

 vagina, are particularly conspicuous on the front wall. 

 Here the anterior column is beset with close V-like 

 ridges and ends below in a crest-like elevation— the 

 carina urethralis — that lies behind the urethral orifice. 

 Relations. — With the exception of the triangular area, from 1.5-2 cm. long, 

 over the uppermost part of th,e posterior wall, where the bottom of the recto-uterine 

 pouch reaches the canal, the vagina is devoid of peritoneum, being attached to the 

 surrounding organs by areolar tissue. In front its upper fourth is in relation with a 

 small part of the fundus and the trigone of the bladder, being attached to the vesical 

 wall by loose connective tissue. Embedded within the latter and surrounded by veins, 

 course the coi. verging ureters, which reach the anterior vaginal wall at about the 

 level of the lower end of the cervix. Below the bladder, the anterior wall of the 

 vagina and the urethra are intimately connected by the intervening dense fibrous 

 tissue (septum urethrovaginalis), with which the vaginal wall blends without sharp 

 demarcation. In consequence of the forward curve of the urethra this partition 

 broadens below. 



Behind, the chief relation is with the rectum, which is separated from the upper- 

 most part of the vagina, for a short distance (from 1.5-2 cm.), by the pouch of 



Columna 

 rugarum 



Vaginal 

 orifice 



Rectum, 

 turned 



back 



Vagina ot virgin, posterior wall 

 has been removed exposing rugous 

 condition of anterior wall. 



