THE SEXUAL ORGANS. 647 



formed of a network of more slender, longitudinal, and of stronger, 

 transverse, and oblique fibres, which, at the openings of the oviducts, 

 frequently form very distinct rings. In the funduSy where the uterus 

 is thickest, the middle layer is strongest, and often appears to be com- 

 posed of several laminae ; whilst, at the thinner cervix, transverse fibres 

 especially, intermixed with isolated longitudinal ones, are met with. 

 In the neighborhood of the external os uteri, and in that part itself, 

 highly developed transverse fibres lie immediately beneath the mucous 

 membrane, and may be described as an ocelusor of it — spJtineter uteri. 

 As to the elements, all these layers consist of short (0- 02-0-03 of a 

 line) fusiform fibre-cells, with elongated oval nuclei, which, on account 

 of the great quantity of the nucleated embryonic connective tissue, of the 

 same constitution as in the stroma ovarii, by which the layers are per- 

 vaded, can only with difficulty bo isolated, and even with the aid of nitric ' 

 acid, of 20S, are not brought into view so distinctly as elsewhere. 



The mucous membrane of the uterus is of a white or Avhitish-red 

 color ; it is closely united with the muscular coat, from which it cannot 

 be raised ; in transverse sections, however, it is distinguishable from it 

 by its, mostly, brighter color, though rarely presenting any marked line 

 of demarcation. Except in its fundamental substance, consisting of the 

 connective tissue which exists everywhere in the female genital organs, 

 containing undeveloped nuclei and fibre-cells without elastic elements, 

 and the epithelium, which throughout appears as a ciliated epithelium 

 with pale cells, as much as 0*016 of a line in size, and delicate cilia 

 which vibrate from without to within, the mucous membrane is difi"er- 

 ently constituted in the body and fundus, and in the canal of the cervix. 

 In the former situations it is more delicate, redder, and thinner (from 

 |-1 line), smooth on the inner aspect, and without papilke, but occa- 

 sionally presenting a few large folds. In it are found very numerous 

 minute glands, the utricular glands of the uterus, or uterine glands 

 [glandulce utriculares s. uterince), which bear the closest resemblance 

 to the LieberkUhnian glands of the intestine ; they exhibit the form of 

 thickly placed follicles, either simple or bifurcated, and not unfrequently 

 spirally contorted at the end, and in length correspond with the thick- 

 ness of the mucous membrane, being 0-02-0'03 of a line broad. They 

 consist of a very delicate structureless membrane, and a uniform cylin- 

 der-epithelium, and open either singly or two or three together, with 

 orifices l-30th of a line wide. Normally, these glands contain no mor- 

 phological elements at all, but it is probable that their epithelium is 

 very easily detached, and may appear as a grayish-white secretion fill- 

 ing them. 



In the cervix the mucous membrane is whiter, denser, and thicker 

 (1-1|- lines), particularly on the anterior and posterior walls, where the 

 well-known pliece palmatce are situated ; between which are found larger 



