THE OVARIES. 1985 



THE FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS. 



The reproductive organs of the female comprise two groups the internal, situ- 

 ated for the most part within the pelvis and above the pelvic floor, and the external, 

 embraced by the subpubic arch and below the triangular ligament and supported by 

 attachments to the surrounding bones, fascia, and integument. The internal organs 

 are the sexual glands, the ovaries, which produce the ova, the oviducts or Fallopian 

 tubes, the canals conveying the sexual cells, the uterus, and the vagina, the passage 

 which, beginning within the pelvis, embraces the lower end of the uterus above, 

 pierces the pelvic floor, and ends below within the external genital cleft. The Fallo- 

 pian tubes, uterus, and vagina represent the excretory canals of the sexual glands 

 which in the embryo, as the Mullerian ducts, for a time are separate. After fusion 

 of their lower segments has taken place, the unpaired tube thus formed becomes the 

 vagina and the uterus, the latter being specialized for the reception and retention of 

 the fertilized ovum during gestation. 



The external organs, often termed collectively the v^llva (pudendum muliebre), 

 include the clitoris, the labia, and the enclosed vestibule and vaginal orifice and the 

 glands of Bartholin. In a general way these parts represent structures homologous 

 with the penis and scrotum, but in a less advanced and specialized stage of develop- 

 ment. 



THE OVARIES. 



The ovary (ovarium), one on either side of the body, is the sexual gland proper, 

 within and from which are developed and liberated the mature maternal sexual cells, 

 the ova. It is a solid body, resembling in form a large almond, and in the adult 

 lies against or near to the lateral pelvic wall invested by peritoneum continued from 

 the posterior surface of the broad ligament of the uterus. Even when mature, the 

 organ presents considerable individual variations in size, its average dimensions being 

 36 mm. (i^ in.) in length, 18 mm. (^ in. ) in breadth, and 12 mm. (^ in.) in thick- 

 ness. Variations in size include a length of from 2.55 cm - ( I2 m -)> a width of 

 from 1.5-3 cm - (f^-i^ i n -)> and a thickness of from .6-1.5 cm - (/^-^ m -)> 

 according to German authorities. The right ovary is frequently somewhat larger 

 than the left. The adult organ weighs about 7 grm. (^ oz. ). After the cessation 

 of menstruation, about the forty-fifth year, the ovary decreases in size and weight, in 

 old women being reduced to one-half or less of its normal proportions. 



The ovary presents two surfaces a median (facics medialis), directed inward, 

 and a lateral (facies lateralis), looking outward and in more or less close relation 

 with the pelvic wall ; two margins connecting the surfaces an anterior (margo meso- 

 varicus), which is thin, straight, and attached to the posterior surface of the broad 

 ligament by a short peritoneal fold or mesovarium, and a posterior (margo libra), 

 which is thicker, rounded, convex, and unattached ; and two poles an upper (ex- 

 tremitas tubaria), rounded, embraced by the oviduct and attached to the suspensory 

 ligament of the ovary and usually to the fimbriated extremity of the Fallopian tube, 

 and a lower (extremitas uterina), pointed and attached to the uterus by a fibro- 

 in uscular band, the utero-ovarian ligament. The portion of the attached anterior 

 border through which the vessels and nerves enter and emerge is known as the 

 hilum (hilus ovarii). The surfaces of the mature ovary are not even, as in early 

 life, but modelled by rounded elevations of uncertain number and size and by irregu- 

 lar pits and scars. The elevations are produced by the underlying Graafian follicles 

 in different stages of growth, while the irregular scar-like areas indicate the position 

 of corpora iutea of varying age and development. Just behind the attachment of 

 the mesovarium and parallel to the hilum, the surfaces of the fresh ovary are crossed 

 by a narrow stripe of lighter color, straight or curved and often slightly raised. This 

 band, the white line of Farre, marks the transition of the usual peritoneal endothe- 

 lium into the cylindrical germinal epithelium that covers the exterior of the organ 

 and appears dull and lacking in the lustre characteristic of serous surfaces. 



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