284 GENERATION. 



changes its character, and we have cylindrical cells above, 

 with squamous cells in the inferior portion. The latter ex- 

 tend upward in the neck to a variable distance. 1 



The blood-vessels of the uterus are very large, and pre- 

 sent certain important peculiarities in their arrangement. 

 The uterine arteries pass between the layers of the broad 

 ligament to the neck, and then ascend by the sides of the 

 uterus, presenting an exceedingly rich plexus of convoluted 

 vessels, anastomosing above with branches from the ovarian 

 arteries, sending branches over the body of the uterus, and 

 finally penetrating the organ, to be distributed mainly in 

 the middle layer of muscular fibres. In their course, these 

 vessels present the convoluted arrangement characteristic of 

 erectile tissue, and form a sort of mould of the body of the 

 uterus. Rouget calls this the erectile tissue of the internal 

 generative organs. By placing the pelvis in a bath of warm 

 water, and injecting what he calls the spongy bodies of the 

 ovaries and uterus by the ovarian veins, he produced a dis- 

 tention of the vessels and a true erection, the uterus execut- 

 ing a movement analogous to that of the penis during vene- 

 real excitement. 3 



In addition to the erectile action described by Rouget, 

 Wernich has lately noted a true erection of the lower portion 

 of the uterus, particularly the neck, which he believes to be 

 very efficient in aiding the penetration of spermatozoids. 

 In several observations, he noticed, during a vaginal examina- 

 tion by the touch, that the neck of the uterus, which at first 

 was soft and flaccid, became elongated, hardened, and ap- 

 parently in a condition of erection, giving an impression to 

 the finger comparable to that of the hardened glans penis. 

 As an anatomical explanation of the phenomena observed, 

 Wernich quotes from Henle, an account of the arrangement 

 of the blood-vessels of the cervix, and his physiological de- 



1 LOTT, Zur Anatomic und Physiologic des Cervix Uteri, Erlangen, 1872, S. 

 15, et seq. 



2 ROUGET, op. cit. Journal de la physiologic, Paris, 1858, tome i., p. 338. 



