BLADDER. 729 



visceral layer of the pelvic fascia, which is reflected from the wall of the pelvis 

 on to the viscera. 



Contents. The viscera contained in this cavity are the urinary bladder, the 

 lower end of the rectum, and some of the generative organs peculiar to each 

 sex ; they are partially covered by the peritoneum, and supplied with blood and 

 lymphatic vessels and nerves. 



THE BLADDEB. 



The Bladder is the reservoir for the urine. It is a musculo-membranous sac, 

 situated in the pelvis, behind the pubes, and in front of the rectum in the male, 

 the uterus and vagina intervening between it and that intestine in the female. 

 The shape, position, and relations of the bladder are greatly influenced by age, 

 sex, and the degree of distension of the organ. During infancy, it is conical in 

 shape, and projects above the upper border of the pubes into the hypogastric 

 region. In the adult, when quite empty and contracted, it is a small triangular 



Fig. 369. Vertical Section of Bladder, Penis, and Urethra. 



sac, placed deeply in the pelvis, flattened from before backwards, its apex reaching 

 as high as the upper border of the symphysis pubis. When slightly distended, it 

 has a rounded form, and partially fills the pelvic cavity; when greatly distended it 

 is ovoid in shape, rising into the abdominal cavity, often extending upwards nearly 

 as high as the umbilicus. It is larger in its vertical diameter than from side to 

 side, and its long axis is directed from above obliquely downwards and backwards 

 in a line directed from some point between the pubes and umbilicus (according to 

 its distension) to the end of the coccyx. The bladder, when distended, is slightly 

 curved forwards towards the anterior wall of the abdomen, so as to be more 



