222 ANATOMY OF THE ABDOMEN, ETC. 



upward and outward, to the internal inguinal ring am 

 through the inguinal canal, like the spermatic cord in the 

 male, are lost in the mons Veneris and labia majora. 



The Fallopian tubes, about four inches in length, are eacl 

 connected by one end with the side of the fund us of tin 

 uterus ; the other end is loose in the cavity of the pelvis 

 Their canals are very minute, but traceable with a fin< 

 probe to the openings at the angles of the cavity of thi 

 uterus, with the mucous membrane of which their own 

 comes continuous. The outer termination of the tube it 

 free in the peritoneal cavity; it is dilated and surround* 

 by a circular, fringe-like fold, called the corpus fimbriatum^ 

 or morsus diaboli. It will be noticed that there is thus 

 communication between the cavity of the uterus and that 

 of the peritoneum, forming a single exception to the 

 general rule that serous membranes are shut sacs. 



The OVARIES are two white, oblong bodies, with either a 

 smooth or scarred surface, bulging from the posterior aspect 

 of the broad ligaments, anchwith which they are connected 

 by their anterior margins. They are attached to the uterus 

 by their inner extremity, through the medium of rounded 

 cords called the ligaments of the ovaries. The ovary con- 

 sists of a fibrous structure containing small vesicles, named 

 Graafian, and the peritoneum surrounds the whole organ, 

 except at its attached border. Their dimensions are very 

 variable, but may be stated, in a general way, as an inch 

 and a half, by three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and 

 half an inch in thickness. 



The ovaries are supplied lay the ovarian arteries, which 

 anastomose with the uterine. The ovarian plexus of nerves, 

 derived from the aortic plexus, accompanies the ovarian 

 artery, and the uterine nerves are also, in part, distributed 

 to them. 



It is not easy for the student to tell which is the front 

 and which the back of the uterus; the ovaries, when present, 

 will tell him ; they being alwaj^s placed on the posterior 

 aspect of the broad ligament ; in their absence, he must 

 remember that the uterus is convex posteriorly, and flat 

 anteriorly. 



