1264 



URETHRA. 



passing over the canal, and termed by him 

 " the depressor urethra? So also often ver- 

 tical fibres can be distinguished arising from 

 the back of the symphysis pubis, and analo- 

 gous to Wilson's Muscles, in the male. 

 Guthrie* also has given a representation of a 

 muscle arising from the rami of the pubis, and 

 splitting into an upper and under part, and 

 thus completely surrounding the tube, as the 

 muscle known by the name of " Guthrie's 

 muscle" does in the male: this apparatus in 

 the female can only have the effect of effect- 

 ually closing the canal. The length of the fe- 

 male urethra varies from an inch and a half to 

 two inches ; but its diameter is considerably 

 greater than that of the male urethra : thus 

 at its commencement, at the neck of the 

 bladder, it is nearly half an inch in diameter, 

 but it is nearly cylindrical in the remainder of 

 its course, and does not exceed three or four 

 lines in diameter. It is contracted at the 

 meatus urinarius. There are few points of 

 higher practical importance in reference to the 

 surgery of the urinary organs of the female 

 than the extreme dilatability of the urethra. 

 It is well understood that, by the introduction 

 of sponged tents or other mechanical contriv- 

 ances, gradually increased in diameter, this 

 canal may be so far dilated as readily to per- 

 mit the extraction of urinary calculi of at least 

 an inch and a half in diameter ; and hence the 

 operation of lithotomy is almost superseded 

 by the more simple procedure of extracting 

 the stone by dilatation. 



The orifice of the urethra or meatus urin- 

 arius is situated above and in front of the 

 entrance of the vagina, at the further end of 

 the vestibulum, between the nymphae, and 

 anterior to the hymen in the virgin : it is 

 placed at the distance of an inch from the 

 clitoris. To the eye it presents the appear- 

 ance of a closed circular aperture, slightly 

 raised and thickened at its under edge, with a 

 depression in its centre. Without ocular in- 

 spection, it may be found by carrying the fore 

 linger below the clitoris, down along the sym- 

 physis pubis for a short distance, when it can 

 be distinguished by its forming a soft semi- 

 circular projection, and its corresponding de- 

 pression can be readily felt. Under examina- 

 tion with the finger the projection of the mea- 

 tus increases as if by erection, and thus at 

 once becomes more perceptible to the touch : 

 the inferior lip of the meatus is continuous 

 with the anterior mesian column of the va- 

 gina, and contains within it some large mucous 

 crypts ; this was formerly termed the corpus 

 glandulosum. In order to avoid touching the 

 clitoris, which, as a matter of delicacy, is of 

 no slight importance, the meatus may be easily 

 found without exposure, by carrying the finger 

 into the vagina, along the anterior wall of 

 which an elongated spongy swelling will be 

 perceived ; by advancing the finger along this 

 swelling the meatus may be readily reached. 



If the urethra be laid open, its mucous 



* Guthrie on Diseases of the Bladder, &c., 

 pp. 47, 48. 



membrane is seen thrown into longitudinal 

 plicae, with valleculae or depressions between 

 them. Some of the plicae are larger than the 

 rest : there is usually one large fold along the 

 posterior wall of the canal, and one on either 

 side ; the fold at the back part, after passing 

 for a short distance, generally divides into 

 two branches : it has been compared to the 

 caput gallinaginis in the male. Besides these 

 there are other folds, which, when the urethra 

 is closed, dove-tail into corresponding depres- 

 sions. The mucous membrane is of a rosy tint 

 at the meatus, but becomes paler towards the 

 bladder : it is copiously supplied with mucous 

 follicles. These open generally in the depres- 

 sions between the rugae ; but there are some 

 large depressions or crypts, into which nu- 

 merous smaller follicles open, situated just 

 within the meatus : these equal in size the 

 blunt end of and ordinary probe ; they are 

 imbedded in the under labium of the meatus, 

 and, forming a considerable, projection, consti- 

 tute the corpus glandulosum of some authors. 

 So also, in the vicinity of the commencement 

 of the urethra, there is a collection of large 

 lacunae visible: indeed the under part of the 

 mucous membrane is at this part studded with 

 small orifices of mucous crypts. These are 

 evidently different from the' ordinary lacunas 

 of the urethra: the latter are analogous to 

 those of the male canal, and, being situated 

 between the longitudinal plicae, open obliquely 

 forwards. They are the seat of a copious 

 mucous secretion. 



The mucous membrane within the meatus 

 is slightly depressed at its floor, which gives 

 the urine a direction forwards and upwards. 

 The whole canal is surrounded with a plexus 

 of numerous small veins, mixed with a consi- 

 derable quantity of elastic or contractile tis- 

 sue (the corpus spongiosuui) ; hence the female 

 urethra possesses the undoubted attributes of 

 an erectile structure. 



Organization. The organization of the fe- 

 male urethra is analogous to that of the male : 

 it is essentially a mucous canal, belonging to 

 the genito-urinary division of mucous mem- 

 branes, and is composed of a mucous layer, 

 covered externally by a layer of contractile 

 tissue. The mucous layer is formed of the 

 ordinary basement membrane, covered with a 

 dense pavement epithelium, formed of broad, 

 oval, and conical, compressed cells. External 

 to this is a layer of that remarkable tissue de- 

 scribed by Kolliker as entering so extensively 

 into the structure of the male urethra, as well 

 as all the other mucous outlets of the body ; 

 this is "necessarily much more simple in its 

 arrangement than the corresponding layer of 

 the male urethra, and is continuous with some 

 of the longitudinal muscular fibres of the 

 bladder. 



The arteries supplying the urethra are de- 

 rived from the inferior vesicle, the uterine, and 

 vaginal. 



The veins terminate in the pudic or branches 

 of the internal iliac. 



The lymphatics terminate in the hypogas- 

 trie ganglia. 



