72 OF THE SEXUAL ORGANS. 



§. V. Of the Tagina. 



181. The vagina or vulvo-uterine canal, an oro-an for eduction 

 and copulation, is a cylindrical canal, four or five inches long, by 

 about an inch in diameter, which extends from the vulva, where it is 

 continuous with the labia and hymen, up to the neck of the uterus, 

 to whose circumference it is attached. Its direction is nearly paral- 

 lel to that of the posterior wall of the excavation, that is to say, it is 

 concave in front, and convex posteriorly, is situated in the axis of 

 the inferior strait, and forms an angle of about sixty-five degrees 

 with the great diameter of the womb. From this disposition, it 

 happens that its posterior wall is much longer than the anterior, and 

 its two extremities being inclined towards each other in front, re- 

 present pretty correcdy the planes of the two straits of the pelvis. 



182. Connections. The posterior region of its external surface, 

 resting for the middle three-fifths of its whole extent on the fore part 

 the rectum, assists in forming the recto-vaginal septum; in approach- 

 ing the vulva its lower fifth leaves the rectum, at a distance equal to 

 the whole thickness of the perineum; its superior fifth, loose in the 

 pelvis, is invested by the peritoneum. Its anterior region is con- 

 nected by means of a dense and firm cellular tissue, first to the bas- 

 fond of the bladder, so as to form the vesico-vaginal septum, then to 

 the urethra, which gives rise to the urethro-vaginal septum. The 

 sides of the vagina are surrounded with vessels, nerves, and a very- 

 abundant cellular tela. 



183. The interior of the vagina presents a number of wrinkles 

 or folds, analogous to those which are met with in the cavity of the 

 cervix; the middle column of its parietes, sometimes divided into 

 two, three, or four small parallel columns, increases in thickness as 

 we approach nearer to the vulva; the same is true of the transverse 

 folds; so that the vagina, which is smooth, or almost smooth above, 

 is most commonly rugose and plaited below, like the palate in the 

 ruminating animals. I have already stated (144), that below the 

 meatus urinarius and at the fourchette, these two middle columns 

 constitute the anterior and posterior myrtiform caruncles. Larger 

 in young persons who have never cohabited, and in brunettes with a 

 dry fibre, than in women who are in an opposite condition, all these 

 wrinkles are effaced during labor, but in general, reappear soon 

 afterwards. 



184. The vaginal cavity terminates above in a circular groove, 

 or cul de sac, much deeper behind than in front. Supple, thin, and 

 situated between organs liable to alternate dilatation and contraction, 

 the sides of the vagina are habitually in almost complete contact; 

 but, as they are endowed with great sensibility, it happens that the 



