612 OVARIES. ROUND LIGAMENTS. 



middle or fibrous layer of considerable density, and an external invest- 

 ment of peritoneum. In the cells of the stroma of the ovary the 

 small vesicles or ovisacs of the future ova, the Graafian vesicles, as 

 they have been termed, are developed. There are usually about 

 fifteen fully formed Graafian vesicles in each ovary ; and Dr. Martin 

 Barry has shown that countless numbers of microscopic ovisacs exist 

 in the parenchyma of the organ, and that very few out of these are 

 perfected so as to produce ova. 



After conception a yellow spot, the corpus luteum, is found in one 

 or both ovaries. The corpus luteum is a globular mass of yellow, 

 spongy tissue, traversed by white areolar bands, and containing in ita 

 centre a small cavity, more or less obliterated, which was originally 

 occupied by the ovum. The interior of the cavity is lined by a 

 puckered membrane, the remains of the ovisac. In recent corpora 

 lutea the opening by which the ovum escaped from the ovisac through 

 the capsule of the ovary is distinctly visible ; when closed, a small 

 cicatrix may be seen upon the surface of the ovary in the situation of 

 the opening. A similar appearance to the preceding, but of smaller 

 size, and without a central cavity, is sometimes met with in the ovaries 

 of the virgin ; this is a, false corpus luteum. 



Vessels and Nerves. The Arteries of the ovaries are the spermatic ; 

 their nerves are derived from the spermatic plexus. 



The ROUND LIGAMENTS are two muscular and fibrous cords si- 

 tuated between the layers of the broad ligaments, and extending from 

 the upper angles of the uterus, and along the spermatic canals to the 

 labia majora, in which they are lost. They are accompanied by a 

 small artery, by several filaments of the spermatic plexus of nerves, 

 and by a plexus of veins. The latter occasionally become varicose, 

 and form a small tumour at the external abdominal ring which has 

 been mistaken for inguinal hernia. The round ligaments serve to re- 

 tain the uterus in its proper position in the pelvis, and during utero- 

 gestation to draw the anterior surface of the organ against tbe abdo- 

 minal parietes. 



EXTERNAL ORGANS OF GENERATION. 



The female organs of generation are divided into the internal and 

 external ; the internal are contained within the pelvis, and have been 

 already described ; they are the vagina, uterus, ovaries, and Fallopian 

 tubes. The external organs are the mons Veneris, labia majora, labia 

 minora, clitoris, meatus urinarius, and the opening of the vagina. 



The Mons Veneris is the eminence of integument, situated upon the 

 front of the ossa pubis. Its areolar tissue is loaded with adipose sub- 

 stance, and the surface covered with hairs. 



The Labia majora are two large longitudinal folds of integument, 

 consisting of fat and loose areolar tissue. They enclose an elliptical 

 fissure, the common urino- sexual opening or vulva. The vulva re- 



