550 EXTERNAL ORGANS OF GENERATION. 



In the cells of the stroma of the ovary the small vesicles or ovisacs of the 

 future ova, the Graafian vesicles, as they have been termed, are developed. 

 There are usually about fifteen fully formed Graafian vesicles in each 

 ovary ; and Dr. Martin Barry has shown that countless numbers of micro- 

 scopic ovisacs exist in the parenchyma of the organ, and that very few out 

 of these are perfected so as to produce ova. 



After conception, a yellow spot, the corpus luteum, is found in one or 

 both ovaries. The corpus luteum is a globular mass of yellow, spongy 

 tissue, traversed by white areolar bands, and containing in its centre a 

 small cavity, more or less obliterated, which was originally occupied by 

 the ovum. The interior of the cavity is lined by a puckered membrane, 

 the remains of the ovisac. In recent corpora lutea, the opening by which 

 the ovum escaped from the ovisac through the capsule of the ovary is dis- 

 tinctly visible ; when closed, a small cicatrix may be seen on the surface 

 of the ovary in the situation of the opening. A similar appearance to the 

 preceding, but of smaller size, and without a central cavity, is sometimes 

 met with in the ovaries of the virgin ; this is a false corpus luteum. 



Vessels and Nerves. The Arteries of the ovaries are the spermatic; 

 their nerves are derived from the spermatic plexus. 



The ROUND LIGAMENTS are two muscular and fibrous cords situated be- 

 tween the layers of the broad ligaments, and extending from the upper 

 angles of the uterus, and along the spermatic canals to the labia rnajora, 

 in which they are lost. They are accompanied by a small artery, by 

 several filaments of the spermatic plexus of nerves, and by a plexus of 

 veins. The latter occasionally become varicose, and form a small tumour 

 at the external abdominal ring, which has been mistaken for inguinal 

 hernia. The round ligaments serve to retain the uterus in its proper po- 

 sition in the pelvis, and, during utero-gestation, to draw the anterior sur- 

 face of the organ against the abdominal parietes. 



EXTERNAL ORGANS OF GENERATION. 



The female organs of generation are divisible into the internal and ex- 

 ternal : the internal are contained within the pelvis, and have been already 

 described ; they are the vagina, uterus, ovaries, and Fallopian tubes. 

 The external organs are the mons Veneris, labia majora, labia minora, 

 clitoris, meatus urinarius, and the opening of the vagina. 



The Mons Veneris is the eminence of integument, 

 situated upon the front of the ossa pubis. Its are- 

 olar tissue is loaded with adipose substance, and the 

 surface covered with hairs. 



The Labia majora are two large longitudinal folds 

 of integument, consisting of fat and loose areolar 

 tissue. They enclose an elliptical fissure, the com- 

 mon urino-sexual opening or vulva. The vulva 

 receives the inferior opening of the urethra and va- 

 gina, and is bounded anteriorly by the commissura 

 superior, and posteriorly by the commissura inferior. 

 Stretching across the posterior commissure is a small 

 transverse fold, the frcenulum labiorum or fourchette, 

 which is ruptured during parturition ; and immedi 

 ately within this fold is a small cavity, the fossa 



