File:The science and art of midwifery (1891) (14579475458).jpg

Identifier: scienceamidw00lusk (find matches)
Title: The science and art of midwifery
Year: 1891 (1890s)
Authors: Lusk, William Thompson, 1838-1897
Subjects: Obstetrics
Publisher: New York, D. Appleton and Co.
Contributing Library: Yale University, Cushing/Whitney Medical Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Open Knowledge Commons and Yale University, Cushing/Whitney Medical Library

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en, at the angle which the hy-men or its remains (the carun-culae myrtiformes) makes withthe walls of the vestibule. Theglands of Bartholin secrete a yel-lowish, adhesive fluid, which ispoured out freely during coitus,and preparatory to the passage ofthe child at the time of labor.This secretion, by rendering theparts moist and slippery, servesto protect the mucous surfacesfrom mechanical injury. Anabundant secretion may likewisebe caused by erotic dreams, or,in fact, by any form of sexualexcitement. They are more de-veloped in young persons than inthose of middle life, and in oldage they seem in some cases todisappear altogether. The orificium vagina differsgreatly, both as to size and ap-pearance, in virgins, in womenaccustomed to sexual intercourse,and in those who have bornechildren. In virgins (vide Fig. 1) the an-terior extremity of the vagina ter-minates in a thin membrane, termed the hymen, which projects betweenthe labia minora. The mucous membrane of the inner surface of the
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Fig. 4.—Vulva of a woman who has bornechildren. 1, labium majus ; 2, fourchette;3, labium minus ; 4, inferior layer passingbeneath the clitoris ; 5, upper layer form-ing the prepuce ; 6, clitoris; 7, prepuce;8, meatus urethra?; 9, vestibule; 10, orificeof the vagina, showing lower portion ofthe vaginal canal; 11, oririce of the glandof Duverney; 12, mons Veneris. (Sap- pey.) FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 7 hymen is continuous with that of the vagina; the outer surface iscovered by an extension of the mucous covering of the vulva. Thespace between the two mucous surfaces contains blood-vessels, con-nective tissue, and a few muscular fibers derived from the vaginalwalls.* The vaginal orifice, which is therefore in virgins identicalwith that of the hymen, has usually a crescentic shape, with its con-cave border looking toward the urethral orifice, so that a small open-ing is left anteriorly for the escape of the menstrual fluid. There are,however, a number of other less common varieties

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