240 ANATOMY FOR NUKSES. [CHAP. XX. 



me lit. This process of involution is not accomplished under 

 six weeks, and sometimes requires longer. 



The uterus is not firmly attached or adherent to any part of 

 the skeleton. It is, as it were, suspended in the pelvic cavity, 

 and kept in position by ligaments. A full bladder pushes it 

 backward ; a distended rectum, forward. It alters its position, 

 by gravity, with change of posture. During gestation it rises 

 into the abdominal cavity. 



The uterus has five pairs of ligaments attached to it, the 

 chief of which are the broad and round ligaments. The broad 

 ligaments are folds of peritoneum slung over the front and back 

 of the uterus, and extending laterally to the walls of the pelvis. 

 The anterior fold covers the front of the uterus as far as the 

 middle of the cervix, when it turns up and is reflected over 



^risOe patted thrva& 



FIG. 136. THE UTERUS AND ITS APPENDAGES. ANTERIOR VIEW. 



the back wall of the bladder. The posterior fold covers the 

 back of the uterus, and extends far enough below to also 

 cover the upper one-fifth of the back wall of the vagina, when 

 it turns up and is reflected over the anterior wall of the rectum. 

 Thus the uterus, with, and between its two broad ligaments, 

 forms a transverse partition in the pelvic cavity, the bladder, 

 vagina, and urethra being in the front compartment, and the 

 rectum in the back compartment. The round ligaments are two 

 rounded nbro-muscular cords, situated between the folds of the 

 broad ligament. They are about four and a half inches long, 

 and extend from the upper angle of the uterus forwards and 

 outwards to be inserted into the vulva. 



Fallopian tubes. The Fallopian 1 tubes or oviducts are pro- 

 1 Named after Fallopius, an Italian anatomist. 



