532 



THE REPKODUCTIVE SYSTEM 



is of the columnar type and, like that of the free surface, is frequently 

 provided with cilia, especially near the mouth of the gland. The epithe- 

 lium rests directly upon the connective tissue of the tunica propria. 



The cervical glands (glandule uterince cervicales) resemble those of 

 the body of the organ in their tubular form and the columnar shape of 



their epithelium, but here the re- 

 semblance ceases. The cervical 

 glands are much branched, and their 

 tubules present frequent dilatations, 

 some of which, apparently from oc- 

 clusion of their outlet, attain a 

 macroscopic size, and are then 

 known asNalothian follicles (ovula 

 Nabothii) ; they are filled with a 

 tenacious mucous secretion. The 

 glandular epithelium near the crypt- 

 like ducts is usually ciliated, like 

 that of the surface, but in the 

 secreting portions it consists of tall, 

 clear, columnar cells which are in 

 various stages of secretory activity, 

 their product being a viscid glairy 

 mucus, strings and granules of 

 which are found within the lumen 

 of the glands, as well as within the 

 canal of the cervix uteri. 



The uterine cavity is a relative 

 term. In the virgin, the mucosa is 

 considerably folded and its surfaces 

 are almost in apposition, being only 

 separated by a very limited amount 

 of desquamated epithelium and cel- 

 lular debris, to which, in the canal 

 of the cervix uteri, the mucous secretion is added. During pregnancy, 

 the development of the fetus within the uterine cavity distends its walls 

 and so dilates the canal that it at last forms a sac of sufficient size to 

 contain the fetus, which floats within the amniotic fluid inclosed by its 

 membranes. 



The blood-vessels of the uterus enter through the folds of the lateral 

 ligament and find their way, through the subepithelial connective tissue 





FIG. 467. A GLAND OF THE HUMAN 

 CERVIX UTERI IN LONGITUDINAL 

 SECTION. 



X90. (After Williams.) 



