chap, xxxii.] FEMALE GENITAL ORGANS. 267 



short tubular glands. They occur in the new-born 

 child chiefly at the sides ; during puberty their number 

 and their size increase considerably, new glands being 

 formed by the ingrowth of the surface epithelium into 

 the mucous membrane (Kundrat and Engelmann). 

 During menstruation, and especially during pregnancy, 

 they greatly increase in length. They are more or 

 less wavy and branched at the bottom. A delicate 

 membrana propria forms the boundary of the tube ; a 

 distinct lumen is seen in the middle, and this is lined 

 with a single layer of ciliated columnar epithelium 

 (Allen Thomson, Nylander, Friedlander, and others). 



358. During menstruation the thickness of the 

 mucous membrane increases, the epithelium of the 

 surface and of the greater part of the glands being 

 destroyed by fatty degeneration, and finally alto- 

 gether detached. Afterwards its restitution takes 

 place from the remnant in the depth of the glands. 

 But according to J. Williams and also Wyder, the 

 greater part of the mucous membrane, in addition to 

 the epithelium, is destroyed during menstruation. 



The muscular coat forms the thickest part of the 

 wall of the uterus ; it is composed entirely of the non- 

 striped variety. 



In the cornua uteri of mammals the muscular 

 coat is generally composed of an inner .thicker circular 

 and an outer thinner longitudinal stratum, a few 

 oblique bundles passing from the latter into the 

 former. In the human uterus the muscular coat is 

 composed of an outer thin longitudinal, a middle 

 thick layer of circular bundles, and an inner thick 

 one of oblique and circular bundles. Within these 

 layers the bundles form plexuses. 



359. The arterioles in the cervix and their capil- 

 laries are distinguished by the great thickness of their 

 wall. The mucous membrane contains the capillary 

 networks. These discharge their blood into veins 



