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at any angle ; secondly, to the case in which they are equally inclined 
on either side of the vertical ; thirdly, to the case in which one is 
horizontal and the other vertical; and, fourthly, to that in which 
both are horizontal. He concludes his paper by a deduction from 
this last case of the modulus of a system of any number of pulleys or 
sheaves, sustaining among them the weight of any given length of 
rope horizontally. 
3. “ On the Nervous Ganglia of the Uterus.” By Robert Lee, 
M.D., F.R.S. 
The author, in a paper which was read to the Royal Society on 
the 1 2th of December, 1839, had described four great plexuses under 
the peritoneum of the gravid uterus, having an extensive connexion 
with the hypogastric and spermatic nerves. From their form, co- 
lour, general distribution, and resemblance to ganglionic plexuses of 
nerves, and from their branches actually coalescing with those of the 
hypogastric and spermatic nerves, he was induced to believe, on first 
discovering them, that they w r ere ganglionic nervous plexuses, and 
that they constituted the special nervous system of the uterus. He 
states in the present paper, that subsequent dissections of the unim- 
pregnated uterus, and of the gravid uterus in the third, fourth, sixth, 
seventh, and ninth months of pregnancy, have enabled him not only 
to confirm the accuracy of his former observations, but also to dis- 
cover the important fact, that there are many large ganglia on the 
uterine nerves, and on those of the vagina and bladder, which enlarge 
with the coats, blood-vessels, nerves, and absorbents of the uterus 
during pregnancy, and which return, after parturition, to their ori- 
ginal condition before conception took place. The author next pro- 
ceeds to describe the two great ganglia situated on the sides of the 
neck of the uterus, in which the hypogastric and several of the sa- 
cral nerves terminate, and which he calls the hypogastric, or utero- 
cervical ganglia. In the unimpregnated state, they are of an irre- 
gular, triangular, or oblong shape, about half an inch in the long 
diameter, and always consist of grey and white matter, like other 
ganglia. They are covered by the trunks of the vaginal and vesical 
arteries and veins ; and each ganglion has an artery of considerable 
size, which enters it near the centre and divides into branches, ac- 
companying the nerves given off from its anterior and inferior borders. 
From the inner and posterior surface of each of these ganglia, nerves 
pass off, which anastomose with the hemorrhoidal nerves, and ramify 
on the sides of the vagina, and between the vagina and rectum. 
From the inferior border of each hypogastric ganglion several fasci- 
culi of nerves are given off, which pass down on the sides of the 
vagina, and enter some large flat ganglia, midway between the os 
uteri and ostium vaginae. From these vaginal ganglia innumerable 
filaments of nerves, on which small flat ganglia are formed, extend 
to the sphincter, where they are lost in a white dense membranous 
expansion. From this great web of ganglia and nerves numerous 
branches are sent to the sides of the bladder, and enter it around the 
ureter. All these nerves of the vagina are accompanied with arte- 
