CHAP. XX.] FEMALE GENERATIVE OKGANS. 241 



vided for the purpose of conveying the ova from the ovaries 

 into the cavity of the uterus. They are two in number, one on 

 each side, and pass from the upper angles of the uterus in a 

 somewhat tortuous course between the folds and along the 

 upper margin of the broad ligament, towards the sides of the 

 pelvis. Each tube is about four inches in length. Its canal is 

 exceedingly small, and begins at the upper angle of the uterus 

 by a minute opening which will hardly admit of a fine bristle. 

 It continues narrow along the inner half of the tube, and then 

 gradually widens into a trumpet-shaped extremity, which be- 

 comes contracted at its termination. The margins of the free 

 trumpet-shaped extremity are frayed out into a number of 

 fringe-like processes, called fimbrice and one of these processes, 

 longer than the rest, is connected with the outer end of the 

 ovary. 



The Fallopian tube consists, like the uterus, of three coats : 

 the external or serous coat, derived from the peritoneum ; the 

 middle or muscular coat, having a layer of longitudinal and of 

 circular fibres ; and the internal or mucous coat, continuous at 

 the inner end with the mucous lining of the uterus, and at the 

 distal end with the serous lining of the abdominal cavity. This 

 is the only instance in the body in which a mucous and serous 

 lining are continuous with one another. 



When the ovum is ready for entrance into the Fallopian 

 tube, the fimbrise of the free end grasp the ovary, the tiny 

 germ-cell is safely conducted into the trumpet-shaped ex- 

 tremity, and is thence carried along by the peristaltic motion 

 of the oviduct into the uterus. This transmission of the cell is 

 also assisted by the ciliated epithelium lining the tube, the 

 motion of the cilia wafting it onwards. 



The ovaries. The ovaries are two small almond-shaped 

 bodies* situated one on each side of the uterus, between the 

 anterior and posterior folds of the broad ligament, and below 

 the Fallopian tubes. Each ovary is attached by its inner end 

 to the uterus by a short ligament the ligament of the ovary ; 

 and by its outer end to the Fallopian tube by one of the fringe- 

 like processes of the fimbriated extremity. The ovaries each 

 measure about one and a half inches in length, three-fourths of 

 an inch wide, and one-third of an inch thick, and weigh from 

 one to two drachms. Their function is to produce, develop, 



