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/174

 neck or cervix below, lying partly within the vagina. The whole is held in place by ligaments. These include the broad ligaments, which extend from the sides of the uterus to the lateral walls of the pelvis, and the round ligaments, two muscular cords, about four inches long, which pass out through the abdominal ring into the inguinal canal and so to the mons veneris and labia, thus corresponding to the spermatic cords in the male. The cavity of the body of the uterus is small and flattened and opens into the cervix by the internal os uteri, the external os being at the opening of the cervix into the vagina. There are three coats: a serous coat derived from the peritoneum, a muscular coat of unstriped fibers which forms the bulk of the whole organ, and a mucous coat covered with ciliated epithelium.

The uterus is always enlarged during menstruation and is enormously enlarged in pregnancy. It receives the fecundated ovum, retains and supports it during the development of the fetus, and is the chief agent of expulsion. In tubal or extra-uterine pregnancy the ovum becomes attached in the tube instead of in the uterus, and develops there, rupturing the tube and causing serious hemorrhage.

The passage from the cervix out of the body is the vagina, a membranous canal, curved upward and backward to conform to the axis of the pelvis, and attached above to the cervix. Ordinarily the sides are in contact.

The arteries of the internal organs of generation are the uterine from the internal iliac and the ovarian from the aorta in the female, the pudic branches of the internal iliac and the spermatic from the aorta in the male. The nerves are largely from the sympathetic system.

Abscess formation occurs frequently in the tubes and gonorrheal infection may spread up the vagina and through the uterus to the tubes, and even to the abdominal cavity itself. The tubes may also be tubercular,