26 THE HUMAN BODY. 



years." The same authority states again : " Any deviation 

 from this process at the full term" (i.e., the process, asso- 

 ciated with lactation, by which the uterus is restored to its 

 small non-gravid dimensions) "lays the foundation of, and 

 causes, a wide range of uterine accidents arid disease, dis- 

 placements of various kinds; falling of the womb downwards 

 or forwards or backwards, with the long list of neuralgic 

 pains in the back, groin, thighs and elsewhere that they 

 occasion; constant and inordinate leucorrhcea; sympathetic 

 attacks of ovarian irritation, running even into dropsy," 

 etc. etc. There is, thus, abundant reason for bearing most 

 things rather than the risks of an avoidable abortion; among 

 these is one not mentioned above, but more terrible than 

 all, insanity. 



Lactation. The mammary glands for several years aftei 

 birth remain small, and alike in both sexes. Towards 

 puberty they begin to enlarge in the female, and when fully 

 developed form in that sex two rounded eminences, tho 

 breasts, placed on the thorax. A little below the centre of 

 each projects a small eminence, the nipple, and the skin 

 around this forms a colored circle, the areola. In virgin a 

 the areolge are pink; they darken in tint and enlarge during 

 the first pregnancy and never quite regain their original 

 hue. The mammary glands are constructed on the com 

 pound racemose type (p. 262). Each consists of from 

 fifteen to twenty distinct lobes, made up of smaller divisions $ 

 from each main lobe a separate galactophorous duct, made 

 by the union of smaller branches from the lobules, runs 

 towards the nipple, all converging beneath the areola. 

 There each dilates and forms a small elongated reservoir 

 in which the milk may temporarily collect. Beyond this 

 the ducts narrow again, and each continues to a separate 

 opening on the nipple. Imbedding and enveloping the 

 lobes of the gland is a quantity of firm adipose tissue 

 which gives the whole breast its rounded form. 



During maidenhood the glandular tissue remains imper- 

 fectly developed and dormant. Early in pregnancy it begins 

 to increase in bulk, and the gland lobes can be felt as hard 

 masses through the super jacent skin and fat. Even at par- 

 turition, however, their functional activity is not fully 



