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CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. OVARIES. GRAAFIAN FOLLICLES. 



GERMINAL VESICLE. PAROVABIUM. FALLOPIAN TUBE. UTE- 

 RUS. VAGINA, AND ACCESSORY ORGANS OF GENERATION IN THE 



FEMALE. FEMALE URETHRA. 



Female Organs of Generation. The formative organ in the female 

 is the ovary, in which the ova are developed and prepared for fecun- 

 dation. From the ovary, the ova pass into the Fallopian tube or 

 efferent duct, which opens into the uterus, the cavity designed for 

 the reception of the ovum after it has been impregnated, in which 

 the formation of the embryo takes place, and its development into 

 the form of the future being occurs. From the uterus passes the 

 vagina or tube which receives the penis of the male in copulation. 

 With the vagina are connected certain glands and accessory 

 organs. 



Ovaries. The ovaries are two in number, of an oval form, and 

 flattened antero-posteriorly ; they lie in the cavity of the pelvis, 

 and are enclosed in a fold of the broad ligament of the uterus, 

 with which organ they are connected by a narrow cord or round 

 ligament. Each ovary is invested with a firm capsule of condensed 

 fibrous tissue, which is covered with peritoneum, and is usually 

 attached to the corresponding Fallopian tube by one of the fimbriae 

 of the latter. The ovary is composed of a firm, fibrous, and highly 

 vascular stroma ; in which are imbedded, at various intervals, a 

 number of small cavities or vesicles, originally discovered by De 

 Graaf, hence called Graaf.au vesicles. These contain a serous fluid, 

 with a considerable number of cells, amongst which the ovum lies. 

 In the adult ovary, there are usually from ten to fifty, or more, of 

 these Graafian vesicles, varying in size from a small pin's head to 

 that of a pea. The largest are situated chiefly towards the peri- 

 pheral part of the organ. In the ovary of the advanced foetus and 

 new-born child, Graafian follicles are abundant, and, even at this 

 early period, the ovum can be seen within them. The fibrous 



