GENERATIVE SYSTEM OF THE FEMALE 



173 



a cylindrical prolongation called the cervix (Fig. 58). It is 

 essentially a hollow muscular organ with walls of considerable 

 thickness and firmness, which consist of smooth muscular fibres 

 interwoven in an almost inextricable manner. It is invested 

 externally with a serous membrane (perimetrium), which ditfers in 

 no way from the ordinary serous peritoneum (Fig. 59). It is 

 covered internally by a mucous membrane (endometrium), about 

 1*5 mm. thick, soft, and covered by a thin layer of viscous fluid 

 of alkaline reaction. The endometrium consists of a simple cylin- 

 drical epithelium provided with ciliated epithelium with a move- 

 ment directed from the fundus of the uterus towards the cervix. 

 The epithelium rests on a tunica propria, which has the structure 

 of lymphoid tissue, in the meshes of which are collected lympho- 

 cytes, especially abundant 

 around the little blood 

 and lymphatic vessels with 

 which the mucosa is richly 

 provided. The uterine 

 mucous membrane is rich 

 in tubular glands, simple 

 or bifid at the extremity 

 (Fig. 60), covered by an 

 epithelium similar to that 

 of the surface and resting 

 on a basement membrane. 

 The mucosa of the uter- 



inp Tipplr i<l thirkpr more FIG. 59. Diagram showing relations of uterus part of 

 Lt-KBi , 1. vagina, urinary bladder, and rectum. The peritoneum 



resistant, and paler than is in red. (Chiarugi.) C body of uterus ,\V | , vagina; 

 ' - - r - ~ i, isthmus ; c, cervix of uterus ; Vo, bladder ; H, 



rectum; a, vesico-uterine peritoneal cavity ; vt, trans- 

 verse vesicular fold ; p, bottom of recto-uterine 

 peritoneal cavity ; ru, recto-uterine fold. 



that of the body of the 

 uterus. Its surface is un- 

 even, and presents oblique 

 ridges (Plicae palmatae). 



r It possesses a cylindrical ciliated 



epithelium with cells thinner and longer than those of the body 

 of the uterus, a firmer tunica propria due to more numerous 

 connective -tissue fibres, but it is poorer in lymphocytes, and 

 contains only a few glands. These secrete an alkaline, very viscid 

 mucus, which fills the cervical canal, and often makes its appear- 

 ance at the external orifice of the cervix. 



The internal cavity of the uterus varies in form in the virgin, 

 the nullipara, and the multipara, as may be seen at a glance in 

 Fig. 61. The anterior and posterior walls which circumscribe the 

 uterus are in contact, or rather they are separated by a thin layer 

 of mucus, hence the cavity of the uterus may almost be said to be 

 only potential. The cavity of the cervix, however, is always dis- 

 tended with mucus, even in virgins. 



The oviducts or uterine tubes open medially into the uterine 

 cavity, and laterally into the peritoneal cavity (Fig. 62). The 



