THE MULLERIAN DUCTS 397 



pus in the utero-rectal fossa can always be determined by 

 palpation of the posterior fornix of the vagina. 



CONGENITAL ANOMALIES OF THE FEMALE PELVIC VISCERA. 

 Before the various congenital anomalies are described, it is 

 necessary to give a brief outline of the normal developmental 

 history of the female organs of generation. 



The Miillerian ducts, which leave very few remains in the 

 male (p. 381), form practically the whole of the uterine tubes, 

 the uterus and the vagina. Their mode of origin is curious, as 

 the ostium abdominale is the first part to appear. A surface 

 depression occurs in the lining membrane of the body cavity, 



Uterine tube (Miillerian duct) 



Uterus 

 (fused Miillerian ducts)" 



Vagina 

 (fused Miillerian ducts)" 



- ,Ep-oophoron 

 (Wolffian duct) 



it 



if- ^ Duct of Gaertne 

 ,'/ " (Wolffian duct) 



FIG. 140. Diagram of the Development of the Female Generative Organs. 

 The dotted lines represent the part of the Wolffian duct which normally disappears. 



lateral to the Wolffian body (p. 380), and it burrows its way 

 tail wards, still retaining its connexion with the body cavity 

 a connexion which, as already noticed, exists throughout life. 

 After a time, the two Miillerian ducts approach one another 

 by passing medially in front of the Wolffian duct and the 

 gut, and their caudal portions unite. About this time the 

 caudal end of the tube opens into the urogenital sinus, but, 

 later, owing to a difference in the relative rates of growth, 

 the urethra and the vagina acquire independent orifices on 

 the surface of the perineum. 



The proximal unfused ends of the Miillerian ducts form the 

 uterine tubes ; the fused portions form the uterus and vagina. 



