CONTENTS OF FEMALE PELVIS. 545 



lo wer portion of the organ ; it is distinguished from the body by a 

 well-marked constriction; to its upper part is attached the upper 

 extremity of the vagina, and at its extremity is an opening which 

 is nearly round in the virgin, and transverse after parturition the 

 os uteri bounded before and behind by two labia; the anterior 

 labium being the most thick, and the posterior somewhat the longest. 



Fig. 163* 



The opening of the os uteri is of considerable size, and is named 

 the orificium uteri externum ; the canal then becomes narrowed, 

 and at the upper end of the cervix Is constricted into a smaller 

 opening the orificium internum.f At this point the canal of the 

 cervix expands into the shallow triangular cavity of the uterus, the 

 inferior angle corresponding with the orificium internum, and the 

 two superior angles, which are funnel-shaped and represent the 



* A side view of the viscera of the female pelvis. 1. The symphysis pnbis; to the 

 upper part of which the tendon of the rectus muscle is attached. 2. The abdominal 

 parietes. 3. The collection of fat, forming the projection of the mons Veneris. 4. The 

 urinary bladder. 5. The entrance of the left ureter. 6. The canal of the urethra, 

 converted into a mere fissure by the contraction of its walls. 7. The meatus urinarius. 

 8. The clitoris, with its pi-Beputium, divided through the middle. 9. The left nyrnpha. 

 10. The left labium majus. 11. The meatus of the vagina, narrowed by the contrac- 

 tion of its sphincter. 12. The canal of the vagina, upon which the transverse rugae 

 are apparent. 13. The thick wall of separation between the base of the bladder and 

 the vagina. 14. The wall of separation between the vagina and the rectum. 15. The 

 perineum. 16. The os uteri. 17. Its cervix. 18. The fundus uteri. The eavitas uteri 

 is seen along the centre of the organ. 19. The rectum, showing the disposition of its 

 mucous membrane. 20. The anus. 21. The upper part of the rectum, invested by 

 the peritoneum. 22. The recto-uterine fold of the peritoneum, just above the figure. 

 23. The utero-vesical fold. 24. The' reflection of the peritoneum, from the apex' of 

 the bladder, upon the trachus to the internal surface of the abdominal parietes. 25. 

 The last lumbar vertebra. 26. The sacrum. 27. The coccyx. 



t The orificium internum is not unfrequently obliterated in old persons. Indeed, 

 this obliteration is so common, as to have induced Mayer to regard it as normal. 



69 





