818 



FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 



bristle; it continues narrow along the inner half the tube, and then gradually 

 widens into a trumpet-shaped extremity, which becomes contracted at its termi- 

 nation. This orifice is called the ostium abdominale, and communicates with the 

 peritoneal cavity. Its margins are surrounded by a series of fringe-like pro- 

 cesses, termed fimbrise, and one of these processes is connected with the outer 

 end of the ovary. To this part of the tube the name fimbriated extremity is ap- 

 plied ; it is also called morsus diaboli, from the peculiar manner in which it 

 embraces the surface of the ovary during sexual excitement. 



/Structure. The Fallopian tube consists of three coats, serous, muscular, and 

 mucous. 



The external or serous coat is derived from the peritoneum. 

 The middle or muscular coat consists of an external longitudinal and an internal 

 or circular layer of muscular fibres continuous with those of the uterus. 



The internal or mucous coat is continuous with the mucous lining of the uterus, 

 and at the free extremity of the tube with the peritoneum. It is thrown into 

 longitudinal folds in the outer part of the tube, which indicate its adaptation 

 for dilatation, and is covered by columnar ciliated epithelium. This form of 

 epithelium is also found on the inner and outer surfaces of the fimbriee. 



The Ovaries (testes muliebresj Galen) are analogous to the testes in the male. 

 They are oval-shaped bodies, of an elongated form, flattened from above down- 

 wards, situated one on each side of the uterus, in the posterior part of the broad 

 ligament behind and below the Fallopian tubes. Each ovary is connected, by 

 its anterior margin, to the broad ligament ; by its inner extremity to the uterus 

 by a proper ligament, the ligament of the ovary ; and by its outer end to the, 



fimbriated extremity of the Fallopian tube 

 by a short ligamentous cord. The ovaries 

 are of a whitish color, and present either a 

 smooth or puckered uneven surface. They 

 are each about an inch and a half in length, 

 three-quarters of an inch in width, and about 

 a third of an inch thick ; and weigh from 

 one to two drachms. The surfaces and poste- 

 rior convex border are free, the anterior 

 straight border being attached to the broad 

 ligament. 



Structure. The ovary is invested by peri- 

 toneum, excepting along its anterior attached 

 margin ; beneath this, is the proper fibrous 

 covering of the organ, the tunica albuginea, 

 which is extremely dense and firm in struc- 

 ture, and incloses a peculiar soft fibrous tissue, 

 or stroma, abundantly supplied with blood- 

 vessels (Fig. 444). Imbedded in the meshes 

 of this tissue are numerous small, round, 

 transparent vesicles, in various stages of 

 development ; they are the Graafian vesicles, 

 the ovisacs containing the ova. In women 

 who have not borne children, they vary in number from ten to fifteen or 



Fig. 444. Section of the Ovary of a 

 Virgin, showing the Stroma and 

 Graafian Vesicles. 



Fig. 445. Section of the Graafian 

 Vesicle. After Von Baer. 



' 



twenty ; and in size from a pin's head to a pea ; but I)r. Martin Barry has shown 



that a large number of mi'croscopic ovisacs exist in the parenchyma of the 



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organ, few of which produce ova. These vesicles have thin, transparent walls, 

 and are filled with a clear, colorless, albuminous fluid. 



The Graafian vesicles are, during their early development, small, and deeply 

 seated in the substance of the ovary ; as they enlarge, they approach the sur- 

 face; and, when mature, form small projections on the exterior of the ovary 

 beneath the peritoneum. Each vesicle consists of an external fibro-vascular 

 coat, connected with the surrounding stroma of the ovary by a network of 



