THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS 



its distal extremity, which is free and floating, it bears a number of elongated 

 lobes, or fimbrice, one of which is longer than the rest and is attached to the 

 ovary. The canal of the tube is narrow, especially at its point of entrance 

 into the uterus. Its other extremity is wider and opens into the cavity of 

 the abdomen at the fimbriae. The uterine tube is invested with peritoneum, 

 and its canal is lined with ciliated epithelium. 



The Uterus. The uterus, u, c, figure 492, is a somewhat pear shaped 

 organ, and is about 7.5 cm. in length, 5 cm. in breadth at its upper part 

 or fundus, but at the neck or cervix only about 1.25 cm. The part be- 

 tween the fundus and neck is termed the body of the uterus; it is about 

 2.5 cm. in thickness. 



The uterus is constructed of three principal layers, or coats: serous, 

 fibrous and muscular, and mucous. The serous coat, which has the same 

 general structure as the peritoneum, covers the organ except the front surface 

 of the neck. The middle coat is a thick mass of unstriped muscle. The 

 muscle fibers become enormously developed during pregnancy. The arteries 

 and veins are found in large numbers in the outer part so as to form almost a 

 special vascular coat. The mucous membrane of the uterus is composed of 

 columnar ciliated epithelium, which extends also to the interior of the 

 tubular glands, of which the mucous membrane is largely made up. In the 

 cervix of the uterus the mucous membrane is arranged in permanent longi- 

 tudinal folds, pliccB palmate. The glands of this part branch repeatedly, 

 and extend deeply into the substance of the cervix. The body has numerous 

 simpler tubular glands. The glands are also lined with ciliated epithelium. 

 They secrete a thick glairy mucus, resembling white of egg. 



The Vagina. The vagina is a membranous canal 8 to 10 cm. long, 

 extending obliquely downward and forward from the neck of the uterus, 

 which it embraces, to the external organ of generation. It is lined with 

 mucous membrane, covered with stratified squamous epithelium, which in 

 the ordinary contracted state of the canal is thrown into transverse folds. 

 External to the mucous membrane, the walls of the vagina are constructed 

 of unstriped muscle and fibrous tissue, within which in the submucosa, 

 especially around the lower part of the tube, is a layer of erectile tissue. The 

 lower extremity of the vagina is embraced by an orbicular muscle, the 

 sphincter vagina. The external organs of generation are the clitoris, the 

 Idbia interna or nymphce; and, the labia externa or pudenda, formed of the 

 external integument, and lined internally by mucous membrane. Numerous 

 mucous follicles are scattered beneath the mucous membrane of the external 

 organs of generation; and two larger lobulated glands, the glands of Ear- 

 th olin, analogous to Cowper's glands in the male, are located at the sides 

 of the lower part of the vagina. The ducts of these glands are about 12 mm. 

 long and open immediately external to the hymen at the mid- point of the 

 lateral wall of the vaginal orifice. 



