1038 THE FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 



liberated, and escape on the exterior of the ovary, passing thence into the Fallopian 

 tube. 1 



In the foetus the ovaries are situated, like the testes, in the lumbar region, near 

 the kidneys. They may be distinguished from those bodies at an early period by 

 their elongated and flattened form, and by their position, which is at first oblique 

 and then nearly transverse. They gradually descend into the pelvis. 



Lying above the ovary in the broad ligament between it and the Fallopian 

 tube is the organ of Rosenmuller, called also the parovarium or epoophoron. 

 This is the remnant of a foetal structure, the development of which is described in 

 the section on Embryology. In the adult it consists of a few closed convoluted 

 tubes, lined with epithelium, which converge toward the ovary at one end and at 

 the other are united by a longitudinal tube, which is the homologue of the duct of 

 Grdrtner in the cow. This duct terminates in a bulbous enlargement. The 

 parovarium is connected at the uterine extremity with the remains of the Wolffian 

 duct. A few scattered rudimentary tubules, best seen in the child, are situated in 

 the broad ligament between the parovarium and the uterus. These constitute the 

 paroophoron of Waldeyer. 



The ligament of the ovary is a rounded cord, which extends from each superior 

 angle of the uterus to the inner extremity of the ovary ; it consists of fibrous 

 tissue and a few muscular fibres derived from the uterus. 



The Round Ligaments are two rounded cords, between four and five inches in 

 length, situated between the layers of the broad ligament in front of and below the 

 Fallopian tube. Commencing on each side at the superior angle of the uterus, this 

 ligament passes forward, upward, and outward through the internal abdominal 

 ring, along the inguinal canal, to the labia majora, in which it becomes lost. The 

 round ligament consists principally of muscular tissue prolonged from the uterus ; 

 also of some fibrous and areolar tissue, besides blood-vessels and nerves, enclosed 

 in a duplicature of peritoneum, which in the foetus is prolonged in the form of a 

 tubular process for a short distance into the inguinal canal. This process is called 

 the canal of Nuck. It is generally obliterated in the adult, but sometimes remains 

 pervious even in advanced life. It is analogous to the peritoneal pouch which 

 precedes the descent of the testis. 



Vessels and Nerves. The arteries of the ovaries and Fallopian tubes are the 

 ovarian from the aorta. They enter the attached border, or hilum, of the ovary. 

 The veins follow the course of the arteries ; they form a plexus near the ovary, the 

 pampiniform plexus. The nerves are derived from the inferior hypogastric or 

 pelvic plexus, and from the ovarian plexus, the Fallopian tube receiving a branch 

 from one of the uterine nerves. 



THE MAMMARY GLANDS. 



The mammae, or breasts, secrete the milk, and are accessory glands of the 

 generative system. They exist in the male as well as in the female ; but in the 

 former only in the rudimentary state, unless their growth is excited by peculiar 

 circumstances. In the female they are two large hemispherical eminences situated 

 toward the lateral aspect of the pectoral region, corresponding to the intervals 

 between the third and sixth or seventh ribs, and extending from the side of the 

 sternum to the axilla. Their weight and dimensions differ at different periods 

 of life and in different individuals. Before puberty they are of small size, but 

 enlarge as the generative organs become more completely developed. They 

 increase during pregnancy, and especially after delivery, and become atrophied in 

 old age. The left mamma is generally a little larger than the right. Their base 

 is nearly circular, flattened or slightly concave, and has its long diameter directed 

 upward and outward toward the axilla; they are separated from the Pectoral 



1 This is effected either by application of the tube to the ovary, or by a curling upward of the 

 fimbriated extremity, so that the ovum is caught as it falls. 



