26o 



NORMAL HISTOLOGY. 



muscular coats are thickened, the elevations acquiring somewhat the character 

 of erectile tissue owing to the abundance of veins intermingled with irregularly 

 disposed muscle-bundles. The fibrous coat, outside the muscular, is com- 

 posed of closely felted bundles of fibrous tissue and plentiful elastic fibres. 



The blood-vessels supplying the vagina, derived from several sources, 

 form a network between the mucous and muscular coats from which some 

 twigs pass to the muscle and others enter the mucosa, where they break up 



Surface 

 epithelium 



?'M^^jti$&JM? ^A'i& 



Blood- 



vessels 



Circulai 

 .muscle 



Longitudinal 

 muscle 



FIG. 308. Section of wall of vagina, showing the rugae cut across. X 80. 



into a capillary network. The veins are very numerous, and unite into a 

 close plexus within the muscular tunic, from which large emergent trunks 

 extend along the sides of the canal. 



The lymphatics are numerous and represented by an exceptionally close 

 network within the mucosa, one less dense within the muscular coat and a 

 superficial network over the exterior from which the larger main efferent 

 stems arise. 



The nerves of the vagina are chiefly sympathetic efferents, associated 

 with minute ganglia as they traverse the fibrous coat, for the supply of the 

 blood-vessels and involuntary muscle. The sensory fibres distributed to the 

 mucous membrane lining the upper part of the vagina are meagre, the pudic 

 nerves endowing the mucosa of the lower third of the canal with greater 

 sensibility. Sensory nerve-endings of different kinds have been observed 

 within the mucous membrane. 



THE EXTERNAL ORGANS. 



The labia majora are rounded cutaneous folds, the homologue of the 

 scrotum, the integument covering the outer surface being thick, dark hued 

 and beset with large hair-follicles. That covering the medial surface is 

 much more delicate in texture, with few and minute hairs. Sweat- and 



