Both Mr. Barrow and Dr. Somerville deny that the peculiarity is artificially excited. In warm climates, the nymphæ are often greatly and inconveniently elongated, and amongst the Egyptians and other African tribes, it has been the custom to extirpate them, or to diminish their size. This is what is meant by circumcision in the female. The vagina is a canal, which extends between the vulva and the uterus, the neck of which it embraces. It is sometimes called the vulvo-uterine canal, and is from four to six inches long, and an inch and a half, or two inches in diameter. It is situated in the pelvis, between the bladder before, and the Fig. 130. rectum behind; is narrower at the A. Section of os pubis.-B. Section of spine and sacrum.-C. Urinary composed of an inbladder, moderately distended, and rising behind the pubis.-D. The urethra.-E. The uterus.-G. The vagina, embracing the neck of the ternal mucous memwomb, with the os uteri projecting into it. brane, supplied with numerous mucous follicles, of a dense cellular membrane, and between these a layer of erectile tissue, which is thicker near the vulva, but is, by some, said to extend even as far as the uterus. It is termed the corpus spongiosum vaginæ. It is chiefly situated around the anterior extremity of the vagina, below the clitoris, and at the base of the nymphæ: the veins of which it is constituted are called plexus reteformis. The upper portion of the vagina, to a small extent, is covered by the peritoneum. The sphincter or constrictor vaginæ muscle surrounds the orifice of the vagina, and covers the plexus reteformis. It is about an inch and a quarter wide; arises from the body of the clitoris, and passes backwards and downwards, to be inserted into the dense, white substance in the centre of the perineum, which is common to the transversi perinei muscles, and the anterior point of the sphincter ani. Near the external aperture of the vagina, is the hymen, or virginal, or vaginal valve, which is a more or less extensive, mem branous duplicature, of variable shape, and formed by the mucous membrane of the vulva where it enters the vagina, so that it closes the canal, more or less completely. It is generally very thin, and easily lacerable; but is sometimes extremely firm, and prevents penetration. It is usually of a semilunar shape, but is sometimes oval from right to left, or almost circular, with an aperture in the middle, whilst, occasionally, it is entirely imperforate, and of course prevents the issue of the menstrual flux. It is easily destroyed by mechanical violence of any kind, as by strongly rubbing the sexual organs of infants by coarse cloths, and by ulcerations of the part; hence its absence is not an absolute proof of the loss of virginity, as it was of old regarded by the Hebrews. Nor is its presence a positive evidence of continence. Individuals have conceived in whom the aperture of the hymen has been so small as to prevent penetration. Around the part of the vagina, where the hymen was situated, small, reddish, flattened, or rounded tubercles afterwards exist, which are of various sizes, and are formed, according to the general opinion, by the remains of the hymen; but Beclard considers them to be folds of the mucous membrane. Their number varies from two to five, or six. Fig. 131. The uterus is a hollow organ, for the reception of the fœtus, and its retention during gestation. It is situated in the pelvis, between the bladder, which is before, and the rectum behind, and below the convolutions of the small intestines. Fig. 130 gives a lateral view of their relative situation, and Fig. 131, of their position, when regarded from before. It is of a conoidal shape, flat tened on the anterior and posterior surfaces; rounded at the base, which is above, and truncated at its apex, which is beneath. It is of small size; its length being only about two and a half inches; its breadth one and a half inch at the base, and ten lines at the neck; its thickness about an inch. It is divided into the fundus, body, and cervix or neck. The fundus is the upper part of the organ, which is above the insertion of the Fallopian tubes. The body is the part between the insertion of the tubes and the neck; and the neck is the lowest and narrowest portion, which projects and opens into the vagina. a. Fundus uteri.-b. Body of the uterus.-c. Neck of the uterus.-d. Os uteri.-e. Vagina.-f, f. Fallopian tubes.-g,g. Broad ligaments of the uterus.-h, h. Round ligaments.-p, p. Fimbriated extremities of the Fallopian tube.-0, o. Ovaries.-1, . Ligaments of the ovary. At each of the two superior angles are—the opening of the Fal Fig. 133. lopian tube, the attachment of the ligament of the ovary, and that of the round ligament. The inferior angle is formed by the neck, which projects into the vagina to the distance of four or five lines, and terminates by a cleft, situated crosswise, called os tincæ, os uteri, or vaginal orifice of the uterus. The aperture is bounded by two lips, which are smooth and rounded in those that have not had children; jagged and rugous in those who are mothers,the anterior lip being somewhat thicker than the posterior. It is from three to five lines long, and is generally more or less open, especially in those who have had children. The internal cavity of the uterus is very small in proportion to the bulk of the organ, owing to the thickness of the parietes, which almost touch internally. It is divided into the cavity of the body, and that of the neck, (Fig. 133.) The former is triangular. The Fig. 134. tubes open into its upper angles. The second cavity is more long than broad; is broader at the middle than at either end, and at the upper part where it communicates with the cavity of the body of the uterus, an opening exists, called the internal orifice of the uterus: the external orifice being the os uteri. The inner surface has several transverse rugæ, which are not very prominent. It is covered by very fine villi, and the orifices of several mucous follicles are visible. The marginal figure exhibits the cavity of the uterus, as seen by a vertical antero-posterior section. The precise organization of the uterus has been a topic of interesting inquiry amongst anatomists. It is usually considered to be formed of two parts, a mucous membrane internally, and the proper tissue of the uterus, which constitutes the principal part of the substance. The mucous membrane has been esteemed a prolongation of that which lines the vagina. It is very thin; of a red hue in the cavity of the body of the organ; white in that of the neck. CHAUSSIER, RIBES and Madame Boivin, however, deny its existence. Chaussier asserts, that having macerated the uterus and a part of the vagina in water, in vinegar, and in alkaline solutions; and having subjected them to continued ebullition, he always observed the mucous membrane of the vagina stop at the edge of the os uteri; and Madame Boivin,—a well-known French authoress on obstetrics, who has attended carefully to the anatomy of those organs during pregnancy,—says, that the mucous membrane of the vagina terminates by small expansible folds, and by a kind of prepuce, under the anterior lip of the os uteri. In their view, the inner surface of the uterus is formed of the same tissue as the rest of it. The proper tissue of the organ is dense, compact, not easily cut, and somewhat resembles cartilage in colour, resistance, and elasticity. It is a whitish, homogeneous substance, penetrated by numerous minute vessels. In the unimpregnated state, the fibres, which seem to enter into the composition of the tissue, appear ligamentous and pass in every direction, but so as to permit the uterus to be more readily lacerated from the circumference to the centre than in any other direction. The precise character of the tissue is a matter of contention amongst anatomists. To judge from the changes it experiences during gestation, and by its energetic contraction in delivery, it would seem to be decidedly muscular, or at least capable of assuming that character; but, on this point, we shall have occasion to dwell hereafter. The uterus has, besides the usual organic constituents,—arteVOL. II. 35 ries, veins, lymphatics, and nerves. The arteries proceed from two sources: from the spermatic, which are chiefly distributed to the fundus of the organ, and towards the part where the Fallopian tubes terminate; and from the hypogastric, which are sent especially to the body and neck. Their principal branches are readily seen under the peritoneum, which covers the organ: they are very tortuous; frequently anastomose, and their ramifications are lost in the tissue of the viscus, and on its inner surface. The veins empty themselves partly in the spermatic, and partly in the hypogastric. They are even more tortuous than the arteries; and, during pregnancy, they dilate and form what have been termed the uterine sinuses. The nerves are derived partly from the great sympathetic, and partly from the sacral pairs. The appendages of the uterus are:—1. The ligamenta lata or broad ligaments, which are formed by the peritoneum. This membrane is reflected over the anterior and posterior surfaces and over the fundus of the uterus, and the lateral duplicatures of it form a broad expansion, and envelope the Fallopian tubes and ovaria. These expansions are the broad ligaments. (See Fig. 132, g, g, and Fig. 131.) 2. The anterior and posterior ligaments, which are four in number and are formed by the peritoneum. Two of these pass from the uterus to the bladder,—the anterior; and two be-tween the rectum and uterus,—the posterior. 3. The ligamenta rotunda or round ligaments, which are about the size of a goosequill, arise from the superior angles of the fundus uteri, and, proceeding obliquely downwards and outwards, pass out through the abdominal rings to be lost in the cellular tissue of the groins. They are whitish, somewhat dense, cords, formed by a collection of tortuous veins and lymphatics, of nerves, and of longitudinal fibres which were, at one time, believed to be muscular, but are now generally considered to consist of condensed cellular tissue. Meckel thinks, that these different ligaments contain, between the layers composing them, muscular fibres, which are more or less marked, and which proceed from the lateral margin of the 4. The Fallopian or uterine tubes; two conical, tor uterus. Fig. 135. tuous canals, four or five inches in length; situated in the same broad ligaments, which contain the ovaries, and extending from the superior angles of the uterus as far as the lateral parts of the brim of the pelvis. (Figs. 131, 132, and 135.) The uterineextremity of the tube (Figs. 133 and 135,) is extremely small, and opens into the uterus by an aperture so minute, |