FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION 



763 



cystic enlargements of obstructed follicles. The upper half of the cer- 

 vical membrane is smooth but the lower half presents a large number of 

 villi. The epithelium of the cervix presents great variations in its char- 

 acter in different individuals. Before puberty the entire membrane of 

 the cervix is covered with ciliated epithelium. After puberty, however, 

 the epithelium of the lower portion changes its character, and there are 

 cylindrical cells above, with squamous cells in the inferior portion. 

 The latter extend upward in the neck for a variable distance. 



The bloodvessels of the uterus are very large and present certain 

 important peculiarities in their arrangement. The uterine arteries pass 

 between the layers of the broad 

 ligament, to the neck, and then 

 ascend by the sides of the uterus, 

 presenting a rich plexus of ves- 

 sels, anastomosing above with 

 branches from the ovarian arte- 

 ries, sending branches over the 

 body of the uterus, and finally 

 penetrating' the organ, to be dis- 

 tributed mainly in the middle 

 layer of muscular fibres. In their 

 course these vessels present a 

 convoluted arrangement and 

 form a sort of mould of the body 

 of the uterus. Rouget has called 

 this the erectile tissue of the 

 internal generative organs. It 

 lacks, however, certain of the 

 characters of true erectile tissue. 

 By placing the pelvis in a bath 

 of warm water and injecting 

 what he called the spongy bodies of the ovaries and uterus by the 

 ovarian veins, he produced a distention of the vessels and a sort of 

 erection, the uterus executing a movement upward. 



In the muscular walls of the uterus, are large veins, the walls of 

 which are closely adherent to the uterine tissue. During gestation 

 these vessels become enlarged, forming the so-called uterine sinuses. 



Lymphatics are not very abundant in the unimpregnated uterus, but 

 they become largely developed during utero-gestation. They exist in 

 a superficial and a deep layer, the deeper vessels being connected with 

 lymph-spaces in the muscular walls and in the mucous membrane. 



The uterine nerves are derived from the inferior hypogastric and 



Fig. 202. Inner layer of muscular fibres of the uterus 

 (Liegeois). 



a, a, rings around the openings of the Fallopian tubes ; 

 b, b, circular fibres of the cervix. 



