THE SEX ORGANS OF WOMAN : THEIR ANATOMY

THE FEMALE SEX ORGANS: THEIR ANATOMY
The Internal Sex Organs--The Ovaries--The Fallopian Tubes--The
  Uterus--The Divisions of the Uterus--Anteversion, Anteflexion,
  Retroversion, Retroflexion, of the Uterus--Endometritis--The
  Vagina--The Hymen--Imperforate Hymen--The External Genitals--The
  Vulva, Labia Majora, Labia Minora, the Mons Veneris, the
  Clitoris, the Urethra--The Breasts--The Pelvis--The Difference
  Between the Male and Female Pelvis.

The organs which primarily distinguish one sex from the other are the
sex organs. It is by the aid of the sex organs that children are
begotten and brought into the world, that the race is _reproduced_ and
perpetuated. It is for this reason that the sex organs are also called
the Reproductive Organs.

The first thing we must do is to become familiar with the _structure_
and _location_ of the sex organs; in other words, we must get a fair
idea of their _Anatomy_.

The female sex organs, also called the reproductive or generative
organs, are divided into internal and external. The internal are the
most important and consist of: the ovaries, Fallopian tubes, uterus
or womb, and vagina. The external sex organs of the female are: the
vulva, hymen, and clitoris. Among the external organs are also
generally included the mons Veneris and the breasts or mammary glands.





ZZ THE INTERNAL SEX ORGANS ZZ
=The Ovaries.= The ovaries are the essential organs of reproduction.
For it is they that generate the eggs, or _ova_, or _ovules_, which,
after becoming _fertilized_ or _fecundated_ by the spermatozoa of the
male, develop into children. Without the ovaries of the female, the
same as without the testicles of the male (to which they correspond),
no children could be begotten, and the entire human race would quickly
disappear from our planet. The ovaries are two in number; they are
embedded in the _broad ligaments_ which support the womb in the
pelvis, one on each side of the womb. They are of a grayish or whitish
pink color, and are about an inch and a half long, three-quarters of
an inch wide, and one-third of an inch thick. They weigh from
one-eighth to one-quarter of an ounce. Their surface is either smooth
or rough and puckered. Think of a large blanched almond and you will
have a pretty fair idea of the size and shape of an ovary.

=The Fallopian Tubes.= The Fallopian tubes (so called from Fallopius,
a great anatomist, who discovered them; also called oviducts: egg
conductors, because they conduct the eggs from the ovary into the
uterus) are two very thin tubes, extending one from each upper angle
of the womb to the ovaries; but at their ovarian end they expand into
a fringed and trumpet-shaped extremity. The fringes are referred to as
_fimbria_. They are about five inches long and only about
one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter; the function of the tubes is to
catch the ova as they burst forth from the ovaries and to convey them
to the uterus. Taking into consideration the very narrow _lumen_, or
_caliber_, of the Fallopian tubes, it is easy to understand why even a
very slight inflammation is apt to clog them up, to seal their mouths
or openings, thus rendering the woman _sterile_, or incapable of
having children. For, if the Fallopian tubes are "clogged" up, the
eggs, or ova, have no way of reaching the uterus.

The Greek name for the Fallopian tube is salpinx (salpinx in Greek
means tube). An inflammation of the Fallopian tube is therefore called
salpingitis. (A salpingitis has the same effect in causing sterility
in the female as has an epididymitis in the male.) Salpingectomy is
the cutting away of the whole or of a piece of the Fallopian tube
(corresponds to vasectomy in the male).

=The Uterus.= The uterus or womb is the organ in which the fertilized
ovum, or egg, grows and develops into a child. It is a hollow muscular
organ, about the size of a pear, with thick walls, capable under the
influence of pregnancy of great expansion and growth. The broad part
of the pear is called the _body_ of the uterus; the lower narrow part
is called the _neck_ of the uterus, or _cervix_. The uterus in the
adult girl or woman is about three inches long, two inches broad in
its upper part and nearly an inch thick. It weighs from an ounce to an
ounce and a half. When the uterus is in a pregnant condition, it
increases enormously, both in size and in weight, as we will see in a
future chapter. The cavity of the uterus is somewhat triangular in
shape; at each upper angle is the small opening communicating with the
Fallopian tube; the upper portion of the uterus is called the fundus;
the external opening of the womb, situated in the center of the
cervix, is called the mouth of the womb, or the _os_, or external os.

The uterus is situated in the center of the pelvis, between the
bladder and the rectum. It is supported by certain ligaments, the
chief of which are the broad ligaments; but, on account of general
weakness, too hard physical labor, or lifting heavy weights, the
ligaments may stretch, and the uterus may sink down low in the vagina,
and we then have the condition known as prolapse of the womb. Or, the
womb may turn forward, when we have a condition of _anteversion_. If
the womb is _bent_ (or _flexed_) forward on itself the condition is
called _anteflexion_. If the womb is turned backwards, the condition
is called _retroversion_; if it is bent or flexed backward upon itself
the condition is called _retroflexion_. An extreme degree of
anteversion or anteflexion, or retroversion or retroflexion, may
interfere with impregnation, as the spermatozoa may find it
difficult or impossible to reach the opening of the womb--the external
os.