340 PRACTICAL ANATOMY. 



accompany the arteries to the corpora cavernosa and corpus spongiosum. The 

 dorsal vein passes under the pubic arch and is tributary to the vesico-prostatic 

 plexus, at the base and sides of the bladder. The other veins accompany their 

 arteries and become tributary to the internal iliac vein. 



10. Describe the nerve-supply of the penis. 



The erectile bodies receive nerves from the dorsal nerve of the penis ; the 

 superficial perineal and sympathetic filaments from the hypogastric plexus. The 

 skin receives sensory branches from the genito-crural and superficial perineal. 



THE FEMALE PELVIC OUTLET. 



The surgical importance of the female perineum will warrant a thorough 

 consideration of its dissection in this book. The homologies are so striking that 

 some of our best text-books on anatomy seem content to refer the student to the 

 male perineum to gain his conception of the structure of the female peri- 

 neum. To my mind this is a most neglectful practice, since the desideratum is 

 a practical one, involving acquisition of knowledge pending operative procedure, 

 instead of a knowledge in the direct line of morphological research. Would the 

 student be competent to treat the male urethra, who had studied only the clitoris 

 from an anatomical standpoint ? Still, the penis is homologous to the clitoris, and 

 in the male the urethra occupies the entire length of the central cylinder of the 

 penis. Would the student be competent to remove a diseased testicle, whose 

 anatomical knowledge was all in homologies? Again, my experience teaches 

 me that medical students look upon the outlet of the female pelvis not from the 

 standpoint of the morphologist. It requires study and practice to see in the fore- 

 skin, the labia minora ; in the scrotum, the labia majora ; in the accelerator 

 urinae, the sphincter vaginae ; in the bulb of the urethra, the bulb of the vagina ; 

 in the spermatic cord, the round ligament of the uterus ; in the uterus mascu- 

 linus of the prostatic urethra, the uterus of the female ; in the testicle of the 

 male, the ovary of the female. 



The repair of the female perineum is seconded in point of frequency only 

 by extirpation of diseased ovaries and tubes ; in comparison to these operations 

 on the female, seen thousands of times by our students, I would ask our seniors. 

 How many operations on the male perineum have you witnessed ? How many 

 castrations have you been party to ? A student may be expert in introducing* 

 the catheter into the male urethra, but without special knowledge he will be ai 

 ignominious failure when he attempts to perform this operation on the female. A 

 knowledge of the specific anatomy of the female generative organs must In- 

 acquired by dissection ; homological studies are most useful and most necessary 

 adjuncts. 



Examine before making any incisions : 



1. The mons veneris, or mons pubis, the fatty elevation covered with crisp 

 hair, surmounting the pubes. 



2. The vulva is a collective noun by which all the external genitals of the 

 female, except the mons pubis, are designated. 



3. The clitoris is an erectile structure analogous to the penis. Its free 

 extremity is the glans. It has ;i suspensory ligament and erector muscles. On 

 each side it has a cms originating from the ischio-pubic ramus. 



4. The major labia are homologous to the scrotum. They are cleft alon;^ 

 the mid !in-(rima pudendi). They extend from the mons to the tendinous centre 



