THE VAGIXA. 



981 



while in the former it amounts to five or six. Each end of the vagina is 

 somewhat narrower than the middle part : the lower, which is continuous 

 with the vulva, is the narrowest part, and has its long diameter from before 



Fig. 683. 



Fig. 683. SECTIONAL VIEW OF THE VISCERA OF THE FEMALE PELVIS (after Houston 



and from nature), i 



p, promontory of the sacrum ; s, symphysis of the pubes ; v, the upper part of the 

 urinary bladder; v', the neck; v', n, the urethra ; u, the uterus; va, the vagina; r, 

 the point of union of the middle and lower parts of the rectum : ', the fold between the 

 middle and upper parts of the rectum; a, the anus; I, the right labium ; n, the right 

 nymph a ; A, the hymen ; cl, the divided clitoris with the prepuce. The pelvic viscera, 

 having been distended and hardened jwith alcohol previously to making the section, appear 

 somewhat larger than natural. 



backwards ; the middle part is widest from side to side, being flattened 

 from before backwards, so that its anterior and posterior walls are ordinarily 

 in contact with each other : at its upper end it is rounded, and expands to 

 receive the vaginal portion of the neck of the uterus, which is embraced by 

 it at some distance from the os uteri. The vagina reaches higher up on 

 the cervix uteri behind than in front, so that the uterus appears, as it were, 

 to be let into its anterior wall. 



On the inner surface of the vagina, along the anterior and the posterior 

 walls, a slightly elevated ridge extends from the lower end upwards along 

 the middle line, similar to the raphe in other situations : these ridges are 

 named the columns of the vagina, or columnce rugarum. Numerous den- 

 tated transverse ridges, called rugce, will also be observed, particularly in 

 persous who have not borne children, running at right angles from the 



