elevation in front of the pubic bones caused by a mass of fibro-fatty tissue; the skin over it is covered by hair in the adult. The labia majora are two folds of skin, also containing fibro-fatty tissue and covered on their outer surfaces by hair, running down from the mons Veneris to within an inch of the anus and touching one another by their internal surfaces. They are the homologues of the scrotum in the male. The labia minora are two folds of skin containing no fat, which are usually hidden by the labia majora and above enclose the clitoris, they are of a pinkish colour and look like mucous membrane.
The clitoris is the representative of the penis, and consists of two corpora cavernosa which posteriorly diverge to form the crura clitorides, and are attached to the ischium; the organ is about an inch and a half long, and ends anteriorly in a rudimentary glans which is covered by the junction of the labia minora; this junction forms the prepuce of the clitoris.
The orifice of the urethra is about an inch below the glans clitorides and is slightly puckered.
The hymen is a fold of mucous membrane which surrounds the orifice of the vagina and is usually only seen in the virgin. As has been pointed out above, it is represented in the male by the fold at the opening of the uterus masculinus. Occasionally the hymen is imperforate and then gives rise to trouble in menstruation.
The bulbs of the vestibule are two masses of erectile tissue situated one on each side of the vaginal orifice: above they are continued up to the clitoris; they represent the bulb and the corpus spongiosum of the male, split into two, and the fact that they are so divided accounts for the urethra failing to be enclosed in the clitoris as it is in the penis.
The glands of Bartholin are two oval bodies about half an inch long, lying on each side of the vagina close to its opening; they represent Cowper’s glands in the male, and their ducts open by minute orifices between the hymen and the labia minora.
From the above description it will be seen that all the parts of the male external genital organs are represented in the female, though usually in a less developed condition, and that, owing to the orifice of the vagina, they retain their original bi-lateral form.
For further details see Quain’s Anatomy (London: Longmans, Green & Co.); Gray’s Anatomy (London: Longmans, Green & Co.); Cunningham’s Text-Book of Anatomy (Edinburgh: Young J. Pentland), or Macalister’s Anatomy (London: Griffin & Co.).
Embryology.
The development of the reproductive organs is so closely interwoven with that of the urinary that some reference from this article to that on the Urinary System is necessary. It will here be convenient to take up the development at the stage depicted in the accompanying figure (fig. 7), in which the genital ridge (a) is seen on each side of the attachment of the mesentery; external to this, and forming another slight ridge of its own, is the Wolffian duct, while a little later the Müllerian duct is formed and lies ventral to the Wolffian. The early history of these ducts is indicated in the article on the Urinary System. Until the fifth or sixth week the development of the genital ridge is very much the same in the two sexes, and consists of cords of cells growing from the epithelium-covered surface into the mesenchyme, which forms the interior of the ridge. In these cords are some large germ cells which are distinguishable at a very early stage of development. It must, of course, be understood that the germinal epithelium covering the ridge, and the mesenchyme inside it, are both derived from the mesoderm or middle layer of the embryo. About the fifth week of human embryonic life the tunica albuginea appears in the male, from which septa grow to divide the testis into lobules, while the epithelial cords form the seminiferous tubes, though these do not gain a lumen until just before puberty. From the adjacent mesonephros cords of cells grow into the attached part of the genital ridge, or testis, as it now is, and from these the rete testis is developed. Recent research, however, points to these cords of the rete testis et ovarii as being derived from the coelomic epithelium instead of from the mesonephros.
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| From A. F. Dixon, Cunningham’s Text-book of Anatomy. |
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Fig. 7.—Transverse Section through a Rat Embryo. |
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Fig. 8.—Diagram of the Formation of the Genito-Urinary Apparatus. The first figure is the generalized type, the second the male and the third the female specialized arrangements. Suppressed parts are dotted. | |||
| Pro.N. | Pronephros. | N. | Nephrostome. |
| M.N. | Mesonephros. | M.C. | Malpighian corpuscle. |
| Mt.N. | Metanephros. | T. | Testis. |
| B. | Bladder. | E. | Epididymis. |
| Clo. | Cloaca. | O.G. | Organ of Giraldès. |
| R. | Rectum. | V.D. | Vas deferens. |
| M.D. | Müllerian duct. | U.M. | Uterus masculinus. |
| W.D. | Wolffian duct. | O. | Ovary. |
| Ur. | Ureter. | Ep.O. | Epoöphoron. |
| S.H. | Sessile hydatid. | Par.O. | Paroöphoron. |
| P.H. | Pedunculated hydatid. | F.T. | Fallopian tube. |
| S.G. | Sexual gland. | U. | Uterus. |
In the female the same growth of epithelial cords into the mesenchyme of the genital ridge takes place, but each one is distinguished by a bulging toward its middle, in which alone the large germ cells are found. Eventually this bulging part is broken up into a series of small portions, each of which contains one germ cell or ovum, and gives rise to a Graafian follicle. Mesonephric cords appear as in the male; they do not enter the ovary, however, but form a transitory network (rete ovarii) in the mesovarium. As each genital gland enlarges it remains attached to the rest of the intermediate cell mass by a constricted fold of the coelomic membrane, known as the mesorchium in the male, and the mesovarium in the female. Lying dorsal to the genital ridge in the intermediate cell mass is the mesonephros, consisting of numerous tubules which open into the Wolffian duct. This at first is an important excretory organ, but during development becomes used for other purposes. In the male, as has been shown, it may form the rete testis, and certainly forms the vasa efferentia and globus major of the epididymis; in addition to these, some of its separate tubes probably account for the vas aberrans and the organ of Giraldès (see fig. 8, E. and O.G.). In the female the tubules of the epoöphoron represent the main part,
