GENERATIVE SYSTEM. 301 



The Meatus Urinaiuus is also a part that can be shewn 

 without the aid of dissection, and this is a stage of inquiry in 

 which we ought to make ourselves well acquainted with its si- 

 tuation : but, as it is blended in composition with the vagina, I 

 shall postpone the consideration of its structure until that canal 

 has been described. 



INTERNAL PARTS. 



THE VAGINA, UTERUS, FALLOPIAN TUBES, TIMBRI/E, AND 

 OVARIES. 



OF THE VAGINA. 



The Vagina is a musculo-uiembranous canal of large dimen- 

 sions, extending from the vulva to the uterus. 



Situation and Connexion. — It is situated within the cavity of 

 the pelvis, having the bladder below and the rectum above it; to 

 both of which it has broad cellular attachments, in addition to the 

 reciprocal connexion of all three parts through the reflections of 

 peritoneum. To the rectum it is closely and firmly attached, by 

 cellular membrane, along its upper side; to the cervix, and to 

 the upper half of the body of the bladder (which is not covered 

 by peritoneum), its inferior and anterior part is connected by a 

 broader and looser cellular band ; and the extreme parts of the 

 canal in front, both superiorly and inferiorly, are applied against 

 the peritoneal pouches formed between the uterus and rectum 

 above, and the uterus and bladder below. 



Figure and Volume. — The figure of the vagina (when dis- 

 tended) is that of an oblong cylinder; but in the collapsed state 

 its sides fall into contact, and it will then vary its form according 

 to the full or empty condition of the bladder and rectum : when 

 they, especially the latter, are distended, the long axis of the 

 canal will prove from side to side, with the exception of its ori- 

 fice, which will have the long vertical diameter still preserved by 

 its union with the vulva. The most capacious part of the canal 

 is the posterior ; there it even exceeds the dimensions either of 

 the bladder or rectum : the part joined to the meatus urinarius 

 is considerably contracted, but from thence it gradually widens 

 to the outlet. 



Length and Course. — The length of the canal is about eighteen 

 inches. Its course is horizontal : its axis, however, does not 

 exactly preserve the straight line; it rather shews an inclination 

 to a curve the same as the rectum does. 



Corjwra Cavernosa Vagiiuc. — The vagina at its commence- 

 ment I'loui the vulva is much thicker in its parictes than clbc- 



