FEMALE PERINEUM 193 



inferior fascia of the urogenital diaphragm and turn it forwards. 

 When the crus of the clitoris and the bulb of the vestibule have 

 both been separated from their attachments and turned forwards 

 the superficial surface of the inferior fascia of the urogenital 

 diaphragm will be exposed. 



Glandulse Vestibulares Majores (O.T. Bartholin's Glands). 

 The greater vestibular glands are the representatives of the 

 bulbo-urethral glands of the male. They are placed one upon 

 each side of the entrance to the vagina, immediately behind 

 the rounded posterior end of the bulb of the vestibule, and 

 under cover of the bulbo-cavernosus. Each is a round or 

 oblong body, about the size of a bean ; a long duct pro- 

 ceeds from it, and opens in the angle between the labium 

 minus and the hymen or carunculae hymenales (Fig. 90, 

 p. 192). 



Urogenital Diaphragm. Owing to the greater width of 

 the pubic arch, the urogenital diaphragm is more extensive 

 in the female than in the male (see Fig. 90). It does not 

 possess the same strength, however, and is not so perfect, 

 seeing that it is pierced by the vaginal canal. As in the 

 male the diaphragm consists of a muscular layer enclosed 

 between a superior and an inferior fascia. The muscular 

 layer consists of the deep transverse perineal muscle and 

 the sphincter of the membranous part of the urethra. The 

 superior and inferior fasciae are blended in front, a short 

 distance below the arcuate ligament at the apex of the 

 pubic arch, to form the transverse ligament of the pelvis. 

 They are blended again behind, along the line of separa- 

 tion between the urogenital and anal triangles, at the base 

 of the urogenital diaphragm, where they fuse also with 

 Colles' fascia. Both the superior and the inferior fascia 

 are attached laterally to the rami of the pubis and ischium ; 

 therefore the fasciae enclose a space, called the deep pouch of 

 the urogenital triangle. The pouch is occupied by the muscles 

 of the diaphragm. It is traversed by the vagina, the urethra ; 

 the internal pudendal artery, and the dorsal nerve of the 

 clitoris. The antero-posterior and transverse extents of the 

 pouch are considerable, but the distance between the superior 

 and inferior fascia, where they are widest apart, is not more 

 than about 20 mm. (four-fifths of an inch); consequently, as 

 both the vagina and the urethra pass perpendicularly through 

 the diaphragm, they lie for only a short distance in the 

 deep pouch. 



VOL ii 13 



