

HUMAN ANATOMY. 



art.** , ,11. from which bundles of muscular tissue are continued into the 



*' r '. I llu ,,, ; behind, bundles pass into the recto-vaginal partition. Above, 



vagi is directly continuous with that of the uterus and below penetrates 



teal body. Within, the conspicuous column* rugarum, the muscular coat, 



mucous, is thickened, the elevations acquiring the character of erectile 



tissue owing to the great num- 

 ber of veins intermingled with 

 the irregularly disposed mus- 

 cle bundles. After piercing 

 the superior layer of the tri- 

 angular ligament and in the 

 vicinity of the orifice, the vagi- 

 nal walls receive strands of 

 striated fibres derived from 

 the middle part of the com- 

 pressor urethrae (m. urethro- 

 vaginalis) and the bulbo-cav- 

 ernosus muscles. 



Vessels. The arteries 

 supplying the vagina, all de- 

 rived from the internal iliac, 

 reach the organ by various 

 routes. The upper part of 

 the vagina is supplied by twigs 

 continued from the cervical 

 branch of the uterine arteries, 

 that descend along the sides 

 of the canal and communicate 

 with the branches from the 

 middle hemorrhoidal and vagi- 

 nal (vesico- vaginal), that are 

 distributed to the middle and 

 lower portions of the vagina respectively. Those from the vaginal, of the two sides, 

 form encircling anastomoses from which an unpaired vessel (a. azygos vaginas) fre- 

 <|u-ntlv is given off on the posterior, and sometimes anterior, wall. Additional 

 branches pass to the lower part of the vagina from the arteries to the bulbus vestibuli 

 from the intern. il juidii s. Free anastomosis exists between the vessels derived from 

 these \ -urces. The veins, numerous and large, after emerging from the mus- 



cular tunic unite on each side to form the rich vaginal plexus that extends along the 

 sides of the genital < anal and communicates with the vesical and uterine plexuses. 

 It receives tributaries from the external generative organs and is drained by a trunk, 



tl vein, that passes from its upper part to the internal iliac vein. 



The /r;;//>//<///, > within the mucous membrane form a close net-work that commu- 



uith tin- lymph vessels of the muscular coat. The collecting trunks pass 



In .in the upper an. I middle thirds of the vagina, in company with those from the 



;ietlv to the lymph-nodes along the internal iliac artery. Additional 



the posterior \a-inal wall encircle the bowel and terminate either in the 



I'.ruhns). The lymphatics from the vicinity of the vagi- 



itice pass rlurllv to the upper median vjnmp of inguinal nodes; some, however, 

 join the lymph paths fn.m the upper Moments. 



an- ,|rri\ed in.m the hypogutric sympathetic plexus, through the 



m the se, ond. third, and fourth sacral nerves. The immediate source 



<|''" ! " la the cen i, ..1 ^.mglion, at the side of the neck of the uterus, 



a MncMtmn with the sacral branches, twigs pass to form, on each side, 



""braces the vagina and provides filaments chiefly for the 



iscle ot ,,s u ;l i|s and blood-vessels. The sensory fibres suppfvini? the 



mbrane , ,h, ,,,,- ,,,, t of the vaRJna are ^ ^^ Jj^ ^^ 



Bfe Ctnal possesses sensibility in only very moderate degree. 

 ifice, the vagina receives fibres from the pudic nerves which endow 



Section of wall of vagina. X 80. 



