THE VULVA. 109 



except in cases of extreme emaciation, where the prominence 

 of the latter has been destroyed by a removal of its fat. They 

 are, however, very subject, as the individual becomes old, to a 

 pointed elongation, increasing their breadth to an inch/efr an 

 inch and a half; and to become thickened and indurated. A 

 tribe of Hottentots, the Boschisnaans, living near the Cape of 

 Good Hope, are uniformly subject to this enlargement; which, 

 for a long time, was represented, by travellers, as an organ 

 superadded to what is common in the human species. 



The Vestibulum is a depression of twelve or fifteen lines 

 long between the labia interna; it is bounded above by the cli- 

 toris, and below by the orifice of the vagina. It is abundantly 

 furnished with mucous lacunae. 



The Urethra of the female has its external orifice (Orificium 

 Urethras) in the inferior part of the vestibulum, about one inch 

 below the glans clitoridis, and is generally marked by a slight 

 rising, which is easily distinguished by the sensation of touch 

 alone; its margin is often bounded by a little caruncle on each 

 side.* The urethra itself is an inch long, larger and much more 

 dilatable than that of the male, its course is obliquely down- 

 wards and forwards from the neck of the bladder; passing under 

 the symphysis of the pubes, and being slightly curved from that 

 cause. It consists of two membranes, a lining and an external 

 one. The lining membrane is a continuation of that of the 

 bladder; it is thrown into several longitudinal folds, and has 

 many mucous follicles in it. The external coat of the urethra 

 consists of condensed laminated cellular membrane, having a 

 strong affinity with muscular fibre: the principal direction of 

 the fibres is transverse, forming a cylindrical body of half an 

 inch in its transverse diameter, and which has given the idea of 

 the existence of a prostate gland in the female: the lower and 

 lateral surfaces of this cylinder are in contact with the vagina, 

 forming a protuberance into its cavity; and the upper surface is 

 firmly connected to the triangular ligament of the pubes. Im- 

 mediately behind the neck of the bladder, we find the vesical 



* Doct. Pancoast considers the urethra of the young female to have its orifice 

 on a level with the anterior face of the Symph. Pubis, whereas, in such as have 

 borne many children it is behind the pubes. Wistar's Anat. vol. ii. p. 182, Phil 

 1839. 



VOL. II. 11 



