Page:Structure and functions of the body; a hand-book of anatomy and physiology for nurses and others desiring a practical knowledge of the subject (IA structurefunctio00fiskrich).pdf/172

 which fasten the uterus to the walls of the pelvis. They are one and a quarter inches long, three quarters of an inch wide, and half an inch thick and are attached at the upper end to one of the fimbriæ of the Fallopian tubes. They consist of numerous Graafian follicles embedded in a fibrous stroma, each follicle containing an ovum about 1/125 inch in diameter and just visible to the naked eye. When a follicle ruptures and discharges an ovum, an irregular yellow spot, the corpus luteum, appears at the point of rupture. After ordinary menstruation it is known as the false corpus luteum and after conception as the true one, this one being larger and lasting longer.

—View of the pelvis and its organs. (Savage.) B, Bladder; U, uterus (drawn down by loop e); F, Fallopian tubes; O, ovaries; L, round ligaments; g, ureter; a, ovarian vessels, often prominent under their peritoneal covering; R, rectum; V, vertebra.

The Fallopian tubes are the oviducts and convey the ova from the ovaries to the uterus. They are four inches long and lie between the layers of the broad ligaments, opening into the uterus by an orifice the size of a bristle, while the end next to the ovary spreads