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perineal body of the female. Behind the anal canal is the 

 ano-coccygeal body (Symington). 



Vesica Urinaria. The urinary bladder is a hollow viscus, 

 with strong muscular walls, which acts as a temporary 

 reservoir for the urine before it is emitted from the body by 

 the process of micturition. Its form, and, in a great measure, 

 its position and relations, are influenced by the amount 

 of fluid it contains, and by the age of the subject. 



The different forms which the bladder assumes, under con- 

 stantly changing conditions, render its description a matter 

 of serious difficulty. As a rule it is found in the dissecting 

 room with contracted walls 

 and empty. For that reason, 

 and also because our informa- 

 tion regarding the empty 

 bladder is more 

 exact, the dissector 

 should study, in the 

 first place, the form 

 it presents when in 

 that condition, and 

 afterwards consider 

 the changes it 

 undergoes as it 

 becomes filled 

 with urine. 

 The following 

 description is 

 based upon the account given by Professor Dixon. 



The empty bladder lies completely within the cavity of the 

 pelvis, in the adult. It has the form of a three-sided pyramid, 

 possessing an apex, a base or fundus, and three surfaces, 

 viz., a superior surface and two infero-lateral surfaces. 



The fundus looks backwards towards the rectum, from which 

 it is separated by (i) the recto-vesical fascia, (2) the deferent 

 ducts and seminal vesicles, which are enclosed in the fascia, 

 and (3) the peritoneum of the anterior wall of the recto-vesical 

 excavation. 



The apex is placed in relation with the upper part of the 

 symphysis pubis. It is continuous with a strong fibrous 

 cord, the ligamentum umbilicale medium (urachus\ which 

 proceeds upwards, on the posterior aspect of the anterior 



URETER 



URETER 



FIG. 208. Diagram of the Empty Bladder, 

 seen from below. (After A. F. Dixon.) 



