THIGH AND LEG. 341 



of the perineum. They flatten out posteriorly into the smooth covering of the 

 perineum. Their junction here is called posterior commissure. 



5. The minor labia are homologous to the prepuce. They are cutaneous 

 folds. They have neither hair nor fat. In the adult they are concealed by the 

 major labia ; not so in the foetus. They are connected posteriorly by the four- 

 chette. 



6. Examine carefully the vestibule. This is a guide to the meatus urin- 

 arius in using the catheter. It- opens into the meatus and extends from this 

 opening to the clitoris. 



7. The meatus urinarius externus is the distal end of the urethra. It is 

 nearly an inch from the clitoris. Introduce a catheter into the bladder and feel 

 the urethra on the anterior vaginal wall, in the mid-line and 1.5 inch in lerfgth. 



8. The vaginal orifice lies in the mid-line. It is narrowed by the hymen in 

 the virgin, and surrounded by the remains of the hymen in females who have 

 borne children. Its homologue would be artificially produced by a vertical slit 



ISCHIO-HUBIC ARCH 



CRUS CLITORIDIS WITH 

 ISCHIO-CAVERNOSUS 



BULBO-CAVERNOSUS 

 COVERING BULBU3 

 YESTIBULI 



Superficial trian- 

 gular ligament 



GLANS CLITORIDIS 

 WITH PREPUCE 



PARS INTERMEDIALIS 

 Mucous membrane 

 *% of vestibule 



MEATUS URINARIUS 



BULBUS VESTIBULI 



GLAND OF BARTHOLIN 



Sphincter ani 



FIG. 237. DIAGRAMMATIC REPRESENTATION OF THE PERINEAL STRUCTURES IN THE FEMALE. 



through the bulb of the male urethra ; the two parts of the accelerator urinae 

 would then be homologous to the sphincter vaginae, and the erectile tissue of the 

 bulb to the bulbi vestibuli. 



9. "The Hymen " (Fig. 238), says Morris, " has been a subject of much 

 speculation among the learned and unlearned of all ages. Its very existence 

 was at one time denied by many great authorities." Failure to find this in 

 careful examination of several hundred female foetuses and young babes has 

 caused me to ask if it be possible that the hymen is absent in females until the 

 age when other pubal changes occur. The remains of the hymen are called car- 

 uncnlie myrtifonnes. They surround the entrance to the vagina. 



Having located the foregoing nine structures, and thoroughly learned both 

 their function and homologies, where the latter exist, you are now ready to begin a 

 careful dissection of t\\e female pelvic outlet. Remember, there is no difference in 

 the posterior triangular region the ischio-rectal fossa in the sexes. The differ- 

 ences will all be found in the anterior, or perineal region. 



