Nerves of the Gravid Uterus. 593 
band under the round ligament, numerous small, delicate filaments, 
apparently nervous, are sent to the base of the ovarium. 
On the right side of the uterus, the author finds that the distribu- 
tion of the hypogastric and spermatic nerves does not essentially 
differ from that now described as seen on the left side. The form and 
situation of the right posterior band is, he states, much more clearly 
seen than on the left side, and presents the appearance of a white 
pearly fasciculated membrane about a quarter of an inch in breadth, 
proceeding from the mesial line at right angles to the hypogastric 
nerves, across the body of the uterus, to the round ligament, where 
it unites with the anterior band. Numerous branches, strikingly 
resembling the branches of nerves, are sent off from the upper and 
lower edges of this band, and from its posterior surface to the mus- 
cular coat of the uterus. An extensive and intimate union at various 
points is distinctly perceptible between these branches sent off from 
the band and the branches of the hypogastric nerves. On the an- 
terior and upper part of the neck of the uterus, there is a great mass 
of reddish-coloured fibres, firmly interlaced together, resembling a 
ganglion of nerves, into which numerous large branches of the hy- 
pogastric nerves on both sides enter, and to which they firmly ad- 
here. From the upper part of this fibrous substance there passes up, 
over the whole anterior surface of the uterus, a thin band of firm 
white fasciculated fibres, prolongations of which extend to the 
round ligaments, — into which, and into the posterior band, they are 
continued by numerous filaments, like those of nerves. From the 
posterior surface of this great band, numerous branches, also appa- 
rently nervous, can be traced to a considerable depth through the 
muscular coat of the uterus. 
The author concludes his paper with the following remark, and a 
short historical account of the progress of discovery on the subject 
of the nerves of the uterus : — 
‘‘From the form, colour and general appearance of these fasciculated 
bands, and the resemblance they bear to ganglionic plexuses of nerves, 
and from their branches actually coalescing with the hypogastric and 
spermatic nerves, I was induced to conclude, on first discovering 
them, that they were nervous plexuses, and constituted the special 
nervous system of the uterus. The recent examination, however, of 
the gravid uterus of some of the lower animals, in which I have found 
a structure similar to those bands in large quantity under the peri- 
toneum, has left me in considerable doubt as to the nature of these 
bands, and until further investigations have been made, I shall not 
venture to pronounce a positive opinion respecting them.” 
The description of the nerves of the uterus contained in Professor 
Tiedemann’s splendid work, the author adds, is usually referred to by 
anatomical writers as the most accurate and complete which has 
ever been given. Professor Tiedemann has represented the sperma- 
tic nerves as being distributed chiefly to the ovarium ; and the hypo- 
gastric as invariably accompanying the trunk and branches of the 
uterine arteries, along the sides of the uterus, — dividing into smaller 
branches, and quickly disappearing in the muscular coat of the ute- 
