FIBRES OF THE UTERUS. 191 



stance, has not yet been precisely ascertained. It appears very 

 different indeed from muscle ; but the uterus occasionally con- 

 tracts, with great force, during labor. It is not rendered thin 

 by its enlargement during pregnancy, and the blood-vessels in 

 its texture are generally enlarged at that time. 



The proper tissue of the uterus in its ordinary condition, 

 is of a grayish color, and of a density almost cartilaginous, 

 especially in its neck. It is composed of fibres, the nature and 

 arrangement of which it is then impossible to determine. 

 When enlarged by gestation, its tissue is soft, reddish, very 

 dilatable, contractile, and presents all the characters of muscular 

 tissue. Its fibres* are arranged in the following manner : 

 In the body of the uterus they form two layers, one super- 

 ficial and one deep-seated. The former is composed first, of a 

 vertical fasciculus, which runs over the anterior and posterior 

 faces of the organ ; of a second fasciculus, which runs along 

 the superior border of the fundus, and of several other oblique 

 layers, which may be traced upon the Fallopian tubes, round 

 ligaments, broad ligaments, and ligaments of the ovaries. In 

 many animals, as in the cow, we find the broad ligament a 

 mass of muscular fibres continuous with the. uterus. 

 The second or deep-seated, form two cones, which are con- 

 nected by their basis upon the median line, and by their apices 

 to the Fallopian tubes. The neck of the uterus is composed 

 entirely of circular fibres, closely compacted together. 



Exteriorly, the uterus is covered by the peritoneum, as has 

 already been mentioned. Internally it is lined with a delicate 

 membrane that has some resemblance to those which secrete 

 mucus, and is generally of a whitish color, abounding with 

 small orifices that can be seen with a magnifying glass. This 

 membrane is so intimately connected to the substance of the 

 uterus, that some anatomists have supposed it was merely the 

 internal surface of that substance, but this opinion is now 

 generally abandoned. It is supposed that the color of this 

 membrane is more florid about the period of menstruation. 



* The best description of the fibres of the uterus is that of Madame Boivin. 

 Vide Maladies de 1'Uterus, etc., by Mad. Boivin and A. Dugus. Paris. p. 



