ANATOMY. 



inch. We distinguish in it a glans and 

 preputium, which resemble, on a small 

 scale, the parts of the same name in the 

 male. 



Below the clitoris are two small folds, 

 called the nymphs. These are connected 

 above to the preputium clitoridis ; they 

 diverge from eacii other as they extend 

 below. They vary much in size ; in a 

 natural state they may measure about 

 halt' an inch at the broadest part. They 

 are of a much greater magnitude in the 

 Hottentot female, and have given rise to 

 the reports of travellers, that the sinus 

 pudoris is covered in those persons by a 

 curtain or apron of skin. About three 

 quarters of an inch below the clitoris, we 

 meet with a round aperture, which is 

 the termination of the female urethra: 

 and just below this is the opening of the 

 vagina; which opening is technically 

 called os externum uteri. This has a 

 very different appearance in a young girl 

 and in a married woman. In the latter 

 it is a large and free aperture, fully ade- 

 quate in size to the admission of the pe- 

 nis; in the former it is shut up in a great 

 measure by a thin membrane, called the 

 hymen. This closes the lower portion of 

 the os externum, to various extents in 

 different subjects; and is torn and de- 

 stroyed by the consummation of mar- 

 riage. Some little excrescences, suppos- 

 ed to be the remains of the ruptured hy- 

 men, are called carunculae myrtiformes. 

 The anus is found about one inch behind 

 the commencement of the vagina. 



The vagina, or canalis uteri, is a mem- 

 branous canal, about five inches in length, 

 extending almost directly backwards 

 from the os externum. Its sides are dense 

 and tough ; and the surface is covered 

 with numerous wrinkles and prominences, 

 which are less conspicuous in women who 

 have had children than in virgins. 



The uterus is a hollow organ ; but its 

 cavity is so small in the impregnated 

 state, and its sides are so thick and dense, 

 that it feels like a solid fleshy mass. Its 

 broadest and largest part, which is called 

 the fundus, is situated directly upwards. 

 The smaller and narrower portion, term- 

 ed the neck, is downwards. The length 

 ' of the organ, from the fundus to the end 

 of the neck, is about three inches; its 

 breadth at the fundus about one inch, and 

 at the cervix considerably less. It is si- 

 tuated within the cavity included by the 

 bones of the pelvis. The peritoneum 

 passes from the bladder *o the anterior 

 surface ot the uterus, ana completely co- 

 vers the organ. It is extended from the 



two sides of the uterus to the bones of 

 the pelvis, forming two broad duplica- 

 tures, called the broad ligaments of the 

 uterus; each of which includes three 

 parts, named the appendages of the ute- 

 rus: 'viz. the ovarium, fallopian tube, and 

 round ligament. 



The cavity of the uterus opens into 

 the posterior part of the vagina by an 

 orifice, named the os tincx or os internum 

 uteri. 



The round ligament of the uterus is a 

 fibrous chord, passing from the fundus 

 uteri through the abdominal ring, and 

 serving to confine this organ in its pro- 

 per situation. 



The ovarium is an oval fleshy body, si- 

 tuated towards the posterior surface of 

 the broad ligament. It contains some 

 small watery vesicles, called ovula g^aafi- 

 ana, which are supposed to be the germs 

 of the future beings, that are to be called 

 into action by the stimulus of the male 

 semen. 



The fallopian tube is a convoluted ca- 

 nal, commencing by a very minute orifice 

 from the corner of the uterus, running 

 along the upper margin of the broad liga- 

 ments, and gradually increasing in size, 

 till it ends near the ovarium by a broad 

 trumpet-shaped mouth, open to the ca- 

 vity of the abdomen, and having an ele- 

 gant arrangement of plaits and fringes 

 surrounding the aperture, whence it is 

 often called the u'mbriated extremity of 

 the tube. 



Male organs of generation. The testes, 

 or glands, which produce the semen, are 

 contained in the scrotum, a bag formed of 

 common integuments, and hanging from 

 the front of the pelvis between the thighs. 

 A prominent line, called the raphe, runs 

 along the middle of this, and divides it 

 into two equal portions. The testes are 

 surrounded and connected in their situa- 

 tion by a loose cellular substance. They 

 are of an oval shape, and about equal in 

 size to a pigeon's egg. They hang from 

 the abdomen by the spermatic chords, 

 which consist of the arteries, veins, lym- 

 phatics, and excretory tubes of the testes, 

 united by a cellular substance, and cover- 

 ed by a muscle, called the cremaster, by 

 the action of which the testis is occasion- 

 ally drawn up towards the belly. 



The substance of the testis is covered 

 by two membranous tunics, one, which 

 immediately invests it, and is called tu- 

 nica albuginea ; another, which surrounds 

 this more closely, and forms a bag, in 

 which the testis' hangs, the tunica vagi- 

 nalis. 



