semen, which they dilute with their own secretion. They are pyramidal in form, are about two inches (50 mm.) long by five lines broad, by two to three lines thick, and lie in contact with the base of the bladder, diverging from each other from the base of the prostate to near the entrance of the ureters; they join by their anterior pointed extremities with the vas deferens, forming on each side the ejaculatory duct' (Fig. 129), terminating in the prostatic urethra by a slit-like orifice on each side, just upon or within the margin of the sinus pocularis (Fig. 130) at the front of the verumontanum.

Describe the descent of the testes.

During early fetal life the testes lie at the back part of the abdomen, behind the peritoneum, just below and in front of the kidneys; attached to the lower end of the epididymis, and attaining its full development from the fifth to the sixth fetal month, is the gubernaculum testis, which contains muscular tissue; this divides below into three portions, passing to Poupart's ligament, to the os pubis and rectus muscle, and to the dartos at the bottom of the scrotum; the gubernaculum is supposed to contract and so cause descent of the testicle, but this is a moot point. Between the fifth and sixth months each testis reaches the iliac fossa, by the seventh it enters the internal abdominal ring, by the eighth month it has reached the scrotum, invaginating from behind the preformed peritoneal sac, processus vaginalis, the upper part of which usually becomes obliterated just before birth, the lower portion then forming the tunica vaginalis testis completely cut off from the abdominal cavity; the other structures in front of the testis are likewise carried onward, forming its covering, as already described.

THE FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION.

What is the vulva (Fig. 133)?

The term includes the following organs :

Labia minora 13,

Mons Veneris*,

Labia majora,

Vaginal orifice 15,
Clitoris,

Meatus urinarius 14.

These parts are also called the pudendum and external

organs of generation.

Describe the mons Veneris *.

It is a rounded eminence surmounting the vulva in front of the symphysis pubis, formed by a collection of fatty tissue, and at puberty becomes covered with hair.

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Describe the labia majora 5 and minora 13.

The labia majora 5 are two prominent longitudinal cutaneous folds passing downward from the mons Veneris to the anterior part of the perineum, enclosing the common urogenital space. Each labium is formed externally of hair-covered skin, internally of skin, enclosing between these layers fatty areolar tissue and a structure resembling the dartos of the scrotum, to which they correspond; the junction of the labia in front constitutes the anterior commissure; the posterior commissure is a fold of skin. The labia minora, or nymphæ 13, are two thin cutaneous folds containing numerous sebaceous glands, inside the labia majora, running from the clitoris where they form a hood-like prepuce and frenum-obliquely downward for about one and a half inches on each side of the vaginal orifice, to be lost in the labia majora.

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Describe the remaining structures forming the vulva.

6

The clitoris is a small penis with root, body, and glans, composed of two corpora cavernosa formed of erectile tissue attached to the rami of the pubes and ischium by two crura; it has a suspensory ligament and two erectores clitoridis muscles.

The hymen is a thin fold of mucous membrane, variously shaped, but usually that of a ring broadest behind, or semilunar, with its concavity upward, stretched across the lower part of the vaginal orifice; it may occasionally form a complete occluding membrane, the condition being then known as imperforate hymen; it may be practically absent in the virgin, and again may persist after copulation, but at that time is usually ruptured; after parturition it gives rise to small, rounded elevations surrounding the vaginal outlet, called carunculæ myrtiformes.

The glands of Bartholin 16 are small, oblong, reddish-yellow bodies, lying on each side of the commencement of the vagina, each opening by a long single duct external to the hymen on the inner side of each labium majus; they correspond to Cowper's glands in the male.

The bulbi vestibuli 12 are two oblong masses-a venous plexus enclosed in a fibrous envelope-extending from the clitoris along each side of the vestibule, a little behind the labia majora.

The pars intermedia" is another small venous plexus immediately in front of the preceding, with which it is continuous as well as with the glans clitoridis; these plexuses correspond to the corpus spongiosum.

The fourchette is a small transverse cutaneous fold, just within the posterior commissure; it is the junction of the labia minora.

The fossa navicularis is the space between the fourchette and the hymen; it is generally artificial, not normal.

Describe it.

The Vagina.

It is a cylindrical membranous canal flattened from before backward, lying between the rectum and the bladder, extending from the vulva to the uterus, curved backward and upward, conforming to the axis of the pelvis and of the outlet. Narrow at its orifice, it is larger above, its anterior wall measuring about two and a half inches, its posterior three and a half, being attached higher up on the cervix uteri behind than in front. Describe its structure.

It is formed of an external layer of fibrous tissue, a muscu

lar coat, and a lining mucous membrane with a median anterior and a posterior raphé or columns of the vagina, which give off transverse rugæ; mucous glands are absent; the epithelium is squamous.

Give the relations of the vagina.

Its anterior surface is in relation with the base of the bladder and urethra; the posterior surface is in relation with the rectum, its lower four-fifths being separated from it by the perineum and connective tissue, its upper fifth by a recto-uterine fold of peritoneum, forming Douglas's cul-de-sac or pouch.

Laterally, above it gives attachment to the broad ligaments of the uterus, below to the levatores ani muscles and rectovesical fascia.

The Uterus and its Appendages.

Describe the position and parts of the uterus (Fig. 134).

It is the organ of gestation, situated in the pelvic cavity between the rectum and bladder, opening below into the vagina, which is attached around its cervix. It is pear-shaped, flattened from before backward, is about three inches long, two inches in breadth at the upper part, and one inch thick, weighing from one to one and a half ounces (33 to 41 gm.); it presents for examination the

Fundus, which is convex, covered with peritoneum, placed below the level of the brim of the pelvis; the

and

Body gradually narrows from the fundus to the neck, with the anterior flattened surface covered with peritoneum as far as the internal os, and a posterior peritoneum-covered convex surface, while each lateral margin is concave, affording attachment to the Fallopian tube above, to the round ligament in front and below this, and to the ovarian ligament below and behind both; the

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Cervix is the lower, rounded, constricted portion of the uterus, which lies partly above the vagina and partly within it; it consists of three zones, upper, lower, and middle; supravaginal, intravaginal, the middle zone affording attachment to the vaginal walls.

Cavity of the body is small, triangular, flattened from before backward, its upper extended lateral angles being funnel

shaped, at the apex of which each opens by a minute orifice into the Fallopian tube; at the inferior angle is the small opening into the cavity of the cervix called the os internum or internal os uteri; the

FIG. 134.-Anterior view of the internal generative organs (Leidy).

Cavity of the cervix is spindle-shaped, flattened antero-posteriorly, and opens into the cavity of the uterus above by the internal os uteri, and below into the vagina by the external os uteri; a median longitudinal crest of mucous membrane on the back and front walls, from which proceed obliquely upward other smaller ones, forms the arbor vitæ uterina, hardly noticeable after the first labor; the

Os externum or external os uteri (also os tincæ) is a transversely ovoidal opening from the cervix into the vagina, which presents an anterior and a posterior lip, both in contact with the posterior vaginal wall.

Describe the ligaments of the uterus.

Six are peritoneal folds, viz.

Anterior or vesico-uterine, two crescentic folds passing between the uterine neck and the back of the bladder; the Posterior or recto-uterine pass from the uterus and vagina to the sacrum and rectum; the peritoneal pouch thus formed between the rectum, the uterus, and the upper fifth of the vagina being called Douglas's or the recto-uterine pouch; the

Two lateral or broad ligamentsTM (Fig. 134), stretched between the sides of the uterus and the lateral walls of the pelvis, dividing this cavity into two portions, each containing between its folds the Fallopian tube, the round ligament, ovary and its ligament, parovarium, and connective tissue.