THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 2O? 



and binding them together. The muscular tissue is 

 arranged in three ill-defined layers, of which the 

 middle is the thicker. It may be said, in general, 

 that the bundles of the inner layer run transversely 

 around the organ, those of the middle layer are 

 longitudinal, while those of the outer layer are quite 

 irregular ; still in all the layers there is great lack of 

 uniformity in the direction of the cells. A part of 

 the external surface of the uterus is covered by the 

 peritoneum, while its inner surface is lined with a 

 mucous membrane. The latter consists of a frame- 

 work formed of a delicate net-work of fibres, between 

 which lie a great number of spheroidal, fusiform, and 

 branched cells, and is covered on the free surface by 

 cylindrical ciliated cells. In the mucosa the simple 

 or branched tubular uterine glands are imbedded ; 

 they are often tortuous, and, like the surface of the 

 mucous membrane, are lined with cylindrical ciliated 

 epithelium. 



The surface of the mucous membrane of the body 

 of the uterus is smooth, but in the cervix it presents 

 regular folds, the so-called plicce palmatce ; the con- 

 nective-tissue framework of the cervical mucous 

 membrane is, moreover, firmer in texture, contains 

 fewer glands, and these, for the most part, are more 

 or less globular and lined with short cylindrical or 

 cuboidal epithelium. The ciliated epithelium of 

 the body extends over on to the mucous membrane 

 of the cervix, where it becomes continuous with the 



