THE ABDOMEN 



895 



Ligament Of the Ovary. — This is composed of plain muscular and 

 fibrous tissues, the former being continuous with the muscular 

 tissue of the uterus. It derives its blood-supply from the ovarian 

 artery, and represents the upper part of the gubemaculum testis 

 in the male foetus. 



Structure of the Fallopian Tubes. 



The wall of the Fallopian tube is composed of four coats — serous, 

 muscular, submucous, and mucous. The serous coat is formed by 

 the peritoneum. The muscular coat is composed of plain muscular 

 tissue, arranged as an outer longitudinal and inner circular layer. 



Fig. 



375. — Transverse Section of the Fallopian Tube (highly 

 magnified). 



the latter being the thicker. The submucous coat is areolar in 

 structure. The mucous coat is continuous with that of the uterus 

 on the one hand, and with the peritoneum on the other, at the 

 margins of the fimbriae. It is thrown into longitudinal folds, which 

 are simple in the isthmus, but complex in the ampulla, where they 

 are beset with secondary folds, and communicate in such a manner 

 as to give rise to cdveolar spaces, thus imparting an almost glandular 

 appearance to the coat. In transverse section the tube presents a 

 branched lumen, which is nearly filled by the leaf-Uke processes 

 formed by the mucous folds. The mucous membrane is covered 

 by cihated columnar epithehum, which, at the free margins of the 

 fimbriae, passes into the endotheHum of the peritoneum. 

 Blood-supply. — The ovarian and uterine arteries. 



