556 ANATOMY IN A NUTSHELL. 



its posterior wall. The spheno-palatine foramen and the foramen of the pos- 

 terior palatine canal open on its inner wall. .Meckel's ganglion, the superior 

 maxillary nerve, and the termination of the internal maxillary artery are in 

 this fossa. 



LESSON CXCI. 

 Female Organs of Generation. (Plates CCLXXI-CCLXXII-CCLXXIII). 

 The internal female organs of generation are, (1 ) the vagina, (2) the uterus 



(3) i lie Fallopian tubes, (4) the ovaries, while the external female organs of 

 generation are known by the term vulva or pudendum. 



The vagina is the sexual canal of the female which extends upward and 

 slightly backward from the vulva to the uterus. Its upper extremity embraces 

 the cervix uteri, the posterior wall reaching the cervix higher up than does the 

 anterior wall. The anterior wall is two ami three-fourths inches long, while 

 the posterior wall is three and three-fourths inches long. These walls are in 

 contact. There is a longitudinal ridge (carina) of the mucous membrane on 

 the lower half of the anterior wall, while on the posterior wall there are two 

 ridges called cohnnme rugarum. From all three of these ridges transverse 

 rugae pass. In all the higher mammalia the vagina is the terminal section of a 

 Mnllerian dud or oviduct united with its fellow, while in the lower mammalia 

 the vagina is double, wholely or in part there being two more or less complete 

 vagina, the right and the left. In some oviparvus animals, as birds, the termi- 

 nation of the oviduct beyond the uterine part receives the name of vagina. 



The hymen is a erescentric or circular mucous fold which constricts the 

 vagina at its entrance. When the hymen is ruptured warty eminences mark 

 its -iic. These are called carunculae myrtiformes. The hymen has the fol- 

 lowing forms: 



1. Hymen bifenestratus (biforijB)is one in which there are two openings 

 side by side and a broad septum between them. 



2. HYMEN CRIBRIFORMIS is one in which the opening is filled by membrane 

 pierced by many small openings. 



3. HYMEN DENTICULAR is one in which the opening has serrate edges. 



4. Hymen imperforate is one which completely closes the vaginal orifice. 

 In this condition a surgical operation, after commencement ofthe menstrual 

 period, is necessary. 



5. Hy.mkn si i i. i'ii i;i.i> is one having an irregularly curved edge as if 

 carved ou1 of thickened tissue. 



6. Hymi nsepti sis s in which the opening is divided by a narrow septum. 



7. 1 1 "i m EN SUBSEPT1 3 is one in which the opening is partly filled by a septum 

 growing ou1 of one wall bnt not reaching the other. 



Although the hymen is most always ruptured by sexual congress it may 

 remain unbroken until parturition. 



The vagina is smallest below and largest where it surrounds the os uteri, 

 where it is very dilatable. 



The vagina has in FRONT ok it the urethra and the posterior wall of the 

 bladder, BEHIND it the anterior wall of the rectum and the pouch of Douglas. 



