DISCHARGE OF THE FCETUS AND PLACENTA. 665 



FIG. 215. 



oped in its substance. At the end of two months after delivery, accord- 

 ing to Longet* and Hesehl,f it has regained the normal structure of 

 uterine mucous membrane. It unites at the os internum with the 

 mucous membrane of the cervix, and the traces of laceration at this 

 spot afterward cease to be visible. At the point where the placenta was 

 attached, the regeneration of the 

 mucous membrane is less rapid ; 

 and a cicatrix-like spot is often 

 visible at this situation for 

 several months after delivery. 



The first change ifl the mus- 

 cular tissue of the uterus after 

 delivery consists in a fatty de- 

 generation. The muscular fibres 

 of the unimpregnated uterus are 

 pale, flattened, spindle-shaped 

 bodies (Fig. 214), homogeneous 

 or faintly granular in appearance, 

 and measuring about 50 mmm. 

 in length. During gestation they 

 increase considerably in size. 

 Their texture becomes more 

 granular and their outlines more 

 distinct. An oval nucleus also 



shows itself in the central part of each fibre. The walls of the uterus, 

 at the time of delivery, are mainly composed of these fibres, arranged 

 in circular, oblique, and longi- 

 tudinal bundles. 



About the end of the first 

 week after delivery, they begin 

 to undergo a fatty degeneration. 

 (Fig. 215.) Their granules be- 

 come larger and more prominent, 

 soon assuming the appearance 

 of fat granules, imbedded in the 

 substance of the fibre. The de- 

 posit increases in abundance, 

 and the granules continue to 

 enlarge until they become con- 

 verted into fully formed fat glob- 

 ules, which fill the interior of 

 the fibre more or less completely, 

 and mask, to some extent, its 

 anatomical characters. (Fig. 

 216.) The fatty degeneration, 



* Traite de Physiologie. Paris, 1850, Generation, p. 173. 

 t Zeitschrift der k. k. Gesellschaft der Aerzte, in Wien, 1852. 



MUSCULAR FIBRES OF THE HUMAN UTERUS, ten days 

 after parturition ; from a woman dead of puer- 

 peral fever. 



FIG. 216. 



MUSCULAR FIBRES OP THE HUMAN UTERTTS, three 

 weeks after parturition; from a woman dead of 

 peritonitis. 



