20l8 



HUMAN ANATOMY. 



Fig. 1701;. 



Tunica 

 propria 





anterior vaginal wall, from which bundles of muscular tissue are continued into the 

 urethro-vagmal septum; behind, bundles pass into the recto-vaginal partition. Above, 

 the vaginal muscle is directly continuous with that of the uterus and below penetrates 

 the perineal body. Within, the conspicuous columnae rugarum, the muscular coat, 

 as well as the mucous, is thickened, the elevations acquiring the character of erectile 



tissue owing to the great num- 

 ber of veins intermingled with 

 the irregularly disposed mus- 

 cle bundles. After piercing 

 the superior layer of the tri- 

 angular ligament and in the 

 vicinity of the orifice, the vagi- 

 nal walls receive strands of 

 striated fibres derived from 

 the middle part of the com- 

 pressor urethrae (m. urethro- 

 vaginalis) and the bulbcT-cav- 

 ernosus muscles. 



Vessels. — The arteries 

 supplying the vagina, all de- 

 rived from the internal iliac, 

 reach the organ by various 

 routes. The upper part of 

 the vagina is supplied by twigs 

 continued from the cervical 

 branch of the uterine arteries, 

 that descend along the sides 

 of the canal and communicate 

 with the branches from the 

 middle hemorrhoidal and vagi- 

 nal (vesico- vaginal), that are 

 distributed to the middle and 



Surface 



epithel 



Blood- 

 vessels 



Circular 



muscle 





Longitudinal  

 muscle 



Section of wall of vagina 



X 8c.. 



lower portions of the vagina respectively. Those from the vaginal, of the two sides, 

 form encircling anastomoses from which an unpaired vessel {a. azygos vagiyice) fre- 

 quently is given off on the posterior, and sometimes anterior, wall. Additional 

 branches pass to the lower part of the vagina from the arteries to the bulbus vestibuli 

 from the internal pudics. Free anastomosis exists betv/een the vessels derived from 

 these various sources. The veitis, numerous and large, after emerging from the mus- 

 cular tunic unite on each side to form the rich vaginal plexus that extends along the 

 sides of the genital canal and communicates with the vesical and uterine plexuses. 

 It receives tributaries from the external generative organs and is drained by a trunk, 

 the vaginal vein, that passes from its upper part to the internal iliac vein. 



The lymphatics within the mucous membrane form a close net-work that commu- 

 nicates with the lymph-vessels of the muscular coat. The collecting trunks pass 

 from the upper and middle thirds of the vagina, in company with those from the 

 cervix uteri, chiefly to the lymph-nodes along the internal iliac artery. Additional 

 stems from the posterior vaginal wall encircle the bowel and terminate either in the 

 rectal or the lumbar nodes (Bruhns). The lymphatics from the vicinity of the vagi- 

 nal orifice pass chiefly to the upper median group of inguinal nodes ; some, however, 

 join the lymph-paths from the upper segments. 



The nerves are derived from the hvpogastric sympathetic plexus, through the 

 pelvic, and from the second, third, and fourth sacral nerves. The immediate source 

 of the sympathetic fibres is the cervical ganglion, at the side of the neck of the uterus, 

 from which, in association with the sacral branches, twigs pass to form, on each side, 

 the vaginal plexus that embraces the vagina and provides filaments chiefly for the 

 involuntary muscle of its walls and blood-vessels. The sensory fibres supplying the 

 mucous membrane of the up|)er part of the vagina are meagre, since, under normal 

 conditions, this part of the canal possesses sensibility in only very moderate degree. 

 Towards the orifice, the vagina receives fibres from the pudic nerves which endow 



