Obstetrics : the theory and practice ; including the diseases of pregnancy and parturition, obstetrical operations, etc. / by P. Cazeaux ; remodelled and rearranged, with additions and revisions, by S. Tarnier.
- Pierre Cazeaux
- Date:
- 1885
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Obstetrics : the theory and practice ; including the diseases of pregnancy and parturition, obstetrical operations, etc. / by P. Cazeaux ; remodelled and rearranged, with additions and revisions, by S. Tarnier. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.
64/1140 (page 60)
![cessive itching at the vulva at the commencement of her pregnancy. To relieve this, she was in the habit of scratching continually, and in her im- patience dragged on the right nympha, so that, in less than a fortnight, it had become twice as long as its fellow. [The internal labia are covered with tesselated epithelium, below which are papillae whose sensibility is especially exercised during copulation. The papillas of the internal surface have a greater development than those of the external surface, and their size is found to increase as they approach the orifice of the vagina. The blood-vessels of the internal labia are supplied by those of the labia majora. A portion of the veins anastomose largely with those of the bulb and of the vagina. The nerves come from the perineal branch. The lymphatics proceed to the inguinal glands.] 3. The Clitoris.— Under this name, a little erectile tubercle, resembling the corpus cavernosum of the male (except in volume), is described. Its free extremity appears at the front part of the vulva, about half an inch behind the anterior commissure of the labia externa, and its body is attached by two crura to ischio-pubic rami; these roots ascend, converging and increas- ing in size, to the level of the symphysis, where they unite to form a single cavernous body, flattened on its sides, which after a course of two or three lines in front of the symphysis, becomes detached and curved forward so as to present a convexity above and in front, at the same time growing more and more slender towards the free extremity, which is called the glana clitoridis. During the first months of the intra-uterine life it is difficult to make out the distinction of the sexes, because the clitoris is as long as the penis; even in the earlier years of existence its dimensions are quite considerable, but after this period it ceases to grow, and, in some females, apparently diminishes. Again, in certain rare cases, it acquires a great length; for instance, M. Cruveilhier has seen one whose free extremity measured two inches, and a case is on record where it reached from four and a quarter to five inches. Most of the pretended hermaphrodites may be referred to anomalies of this kind. Henle gives a representation of a case so singular and rare as to deserve mention. It is a congenital division of the clitoris occurring in a girl of seventeen years of age, in which the body of that organ was completely divided through the middle so as to form two nipples, each invested with a prepuce. The halves of the prepuce thus divided, are prolonged respec- tively toward the corresponding nympha, from which it is separated by a notch, and is lost, above, in the frenum clitoridis. The clitoris, like the penis, has a suspensory ligament, and an erector muscle; the canal of the urethra in the female passes between the two branches of the cavernous body, as it does in the male. [The structure of the clitoris is, in all respects, precisely that of the corpus cav- ernosum of the male, except in point of size. It presents the fibrous envelope, the muscular trabeculse, and the helicine arteries, all characteristic of the erectile](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21515013_0066.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
