1310 



THE URO-GENITAL SYSTEM. 



THE FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS. 



The reproductive glands in the female are a pair of ovaries placed one on each 

 side of the cavity of the pelvis. In connexion with each ovary is an elongated 

 passage or tube the uterine (O.T. Fallopian) tube which leads to the uterus and 

 opens into its cavity. There is no direct continuity between the ovary and the 

 uterine tube, such as exists between the other glands of the body and their ducts, 

 but the ova, when shed from the ovary, pass into the open end of the tube, and are 

 thus conducted to the uterine cavity. The uterus is a hollow muscular organ which 



Ileum 



Suspensory 

 ligament 



Caecum 



Vermiform 



process 



Ovary 



Tuba uterina 

 Inf. epigastric ~ ~ 

 Round ligament -- 



Fundus uteri "" 



Obliterated . 

 umbilical artery 



Urinary bladder " 



Urethra 



Labi urn minus - 

 Labium majus 



-Ureter 



Nerve cords 

 from hypo- 

 gastric plext 



FIG. 1028. MEDIAN SECTION THROUGH THE FEMALE PELVIS. 

 Drawn for the most part from a model made from a dissection by Professor Edward H. Taylor. 



occupies a nearly median position in the pelvis ; it is joined by the uterine tubes 

 above, and it communicates with the upper part of the vagina below. The ovum, 

 having passed through the tube, reaches the cavity of the uterus, and in it, if 

 fertilisation has taken place, the ovum undergoes its development into the embryo 

 and foetus. The vagina is the passage which leads from the uterus to the exterior, and 

 has its external opening behind that of the urethra, within the rima pudendi or 

 uro-genital space. In connexion with the uro-genital space are a number ol 

 structures which are included under the term external genital organs, and which 

 represent in the female the various parts of the penis and scrotum in the male. 

 These are the labia majora and the mons Veneris, the labia minora, the clitoris, 

 and the bulbus vestibuli. The larger vestibular glands, placed one on each side oi 

 the lower part of the vagina, are accessory organs of the female reproductive 

 system, and are represented by the bulbo-urethral glands in the male. 



