Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Woman : her diseases and their treatment / by John King. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
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![of whicla tlie discharges cannot be passed away. It is located about half an inch within the vulva, and forms a kind of valve in front of the vagina. It contains the same elements as the vaginal mucous membrane. Most generally, the hymen is thin' and readily broken, even upon an application of the slightest force; sometimes it yields without becoming rup- tured; and occasionally it is met with so thick and firm as to prevent coition, requiring an operation. The hymen does not appear to be of any great importance, as its loss is not attended with any physical damage. Its pres- ence has been long considered an indication of virginity, but there is no real foundation for such an opinion, as it is fre- quently so delicate in texture as to be ruptured by the slightest causes, as in coughing, sneezing, jumping, &c.; and is fre- quently destroyed among female infants by careless washing of the parts by the nurse; and, again, it has been found so firm and yielding, that notwithstanding pregnancy has taken place, the membrane has remained unruptured up to the period of labor. When the hymen is imperforate, it prevents the menstrual flow from being evacuated, in consequence of which the vagina and uterus become filled and distended with the fluid, ulti- mately giving rise to an enlargement of these organs, as well as of the breasts, accompanied with more or less pain, sense of fulness, and constitutional sjmiptoms. And sometimes the membrane is so firm as to prevent sexual congress. The best method of removing this diflicult}^ is, first to puncture the hymen, and permit the retained discharges to flow away grad- ually, aftor which remove the entire membrane by a circular incision cf,rni.d to its point of union with the labia. This will be less llkdy to occasion after trouble than the crucial or stel- late incisions recommended by authors. Always, before attempting the operation, have the bladder and rectum evacu- ated. Sometimes fatal peritonitis follows the operation. The carunculce myrtiformes are small elevations situated at the vaginal orifice, of a red, pale, or leaden color, and of a roundish or compressed shape. They are in pairs, and vary in number from two to four, the anterior ones being smaller and shorter than the two posterior. They are su]3posed by many to be the](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21061932_0029.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
