46 ANATOMY. 



protruded backward into the cavity of the vagina, which has 

 a flower-like appearance, and can only be seen in a virgin 

 uterus in the undistended state : during gestation it undergoes 

 a remarkable change. 



Independently of its union with the vagina, the uterus is 

 confined in its place by two broad portions of peritoneum, 

 which attach it to the sides of the pelvis, named the lateral 

 ligaments of the uterus. During the period of gestation, the 

 uterus experiences considerable extension. The Fallopian 

 tubes are two trumpet-shaped canals, having a remarkable 

 serpentine course ; running within the folds of the ligamenta 

 lata, from the extremities of the horns to the ovaries. 



The tube commences by an aperture in the cornu, having 

 an elevated whitish margin, which is scarcely large enough 

 to admit a small silver probe : from this it proceeds forward, 

 folded in peritoneum, and extremely convoluted, until it 

 reaches the ovary, to which it becomes attached ; it then 

 begins to enlarge in its diameter, grows less convoluted, and 

 serpentines along the lower side of the ovary ; it afterwards 

 ends in a fringed doubling of membrane. 



The internal membrane of the tubes is similar to that of 

 the uterus. 



The ovaria, or female testicles, are two egg-shaped bodies, 

 situated farther forward than the Fallopian tubes, within the 

 cavity of the abdomen : they receive close coverings, and are 

 loosely attached to the spine. 



These bodies are about the size of walnuts. They are not 

 regular oviform ; they have deep fissures on their sides ; they 

 bear a resemblance, at first view, to the testicles and their 

 ducts in the male. 



Internally, the ovaries are composed of a whitish spongy 

 substance, in which are, in some instances, found little vesi- 

 cles containing a yellowish glairy fluid, in others one or 

 more dark yellow or brownish substances named corpora lutea : 

 the vesicles are the ova, which, from impregnation, receive 

 further development ; the corpora lutea denote the parts from 

 which vesicles have burst, and consequently only exist in the 



