THE UTERUS. 66? 



of the broad ligaments, to the ovaries. They are regarded 

 as fibro-muscular, and serve to fix the ovaries. The supe- 

 rior extremity or fundus of the uterus is convex, and presents 

 upward and forward behind the bladder, and, in the undis- 

 tended state, below the brim of the pelvis. The inferior ex- 

 tremity or cervix looks downward and backward, and is 

 surrounded by the vagina, into which it projects. It pre- 

 sents the os-tincce or uteri, which in the virgin is a circu- 

 lar opening, with smooth borders, but in the female who 

 has borne children, it is more projecting, larger, slightly 

 wrinkled, and more transverse, being divided into an an- 

 terior and posterior lip. The anterior or superior is thicker 

 than the posterior or inferior, which is longer. 



The uterus, when opened, presents a triangular cavity, 

 the base of the triangle being above, and having at each 

 angle the small funnel-shaped orifice of the Fallopian tube. 

 The sides of the triangle are curvilinear, and the inferior 

 angle forms the os-uteri, which is seen in the vagina. This 

 cavity has been found deficient. The cavity of the neck is 

 cylindrical and flattened, arid smaller at either end than 

 in the middle. 



Structure. The uterus is composed of an external or se- 

 rous coat, an internal or mucous, and an intermediate tis- 

 sue, called the proper fibrous or fibro-muscular, with blood- 

 vessels and nerves. 



The serous coat and its ligaments have been already 

 described. The mucous coat is a thin, smooth, delicate 

 membrane, lining the internal cavity, of a pale color, be- 

 coming brighter during menstruation, and covered by an 

 epithelium, columnar and ciliated. In the neck it pre- 

 sents, along the middle, longitudinal lines or columns, 

 from which transverse rugfe or folds are observed to pass, 

 and which, from their arborescent appearance, receive the 

 name of arbor-vita;. Between these folds are found many 

 mucous follicles, whose mouths, from irritation or any 

 other cause, becoming obliterated, present the form of 

 small spherical sacs, from the accumulation of their secre- 

 tions, which Naboth mistook for eggs or rudiments of the 



