A treatise on the science and practice of midwifery / By W. S. Playfair.
- William Smoult Playfair
- Date:
- 1885
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A treatise on the science and practice of midwifery / By W. S. Playfair. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.
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![{ ing portion of the opposite labium, and separated from the external surface by a free convex border. They are thicker in front, where they run into the mons veneris, and thinner behind, m here thev are united, in front of the t-^'- 7 perineum, by a thin fold of inteiiument called the iourchet1;e. which is ♦»*-*4 almost invariably ru])tured in the first labor. In the virgin the labia are closely in apposition and conceal the rest of the generative organs. After childbearing they become more or less separated from each other, and in the aged they waste and the internal nymphse protrude through them. Both their cutaneous and mucous surfaces contain a large num- ber of sebaceous glands, opening either directly on the surface or into the hair-follicles. In structure the labia are composed of (Connective tissue, containing a varying amount of fat, and parallel with their exter- nal surface are placed tolerably close plexuses of elastic tissue, inter- spersed with regularly arranged smooth muscular fibres. These fibres are described by Broca as forming a membranous sac resembling the dartos of the scrotum, to which the labia majora are analogous. Toward its upper and narrower end this sac is continuous with the external inguinal ring, and in it terminate some of the fibres of the round liga- ment. The analogy with the scrotum is further borne out by the occa- sional hernial protrusion of the ovary into the labium, corresponding to the normal descent of the testis in the male. Labia Minora.—The labia minora, or nymphce (Fig. 14, b), are two folds of mucous membrane, commencing below, on either side, about the centre of the internal surftice of the labium externum ; they converge as they proceed upward, bifurcating as they approach each other. The .,lower branch of this bifurcation is attached to the clitoris (Fig. 14, c), while the upper and larger unites with its fellow of the opposite side, and forms a fold round the clitoris known as its ])repuce. The nyraphse are usually entirely concealed by the labia majora, but after childbearing and in old age they project some\\hat beyond them ; then they lose their delicate pink color and soft texture, and become brown, dry, and like skin in appearance. This is especially the case in some of the negro races, in whom they form long projecting folds called the apron. . The surfaces of the nymphse are covered with tessellated e])ithelium, and over them are distributed a large number of vascular paiiillge, some- what enlarged at their extremities, and sebaceous glands, which are. more numerous on their internal surfiices. The latter secrete an odor- ous, cheesy matter, which lubricates the surface of the vulva and pre- vents its folds adhering to each other. The nymphse are composed of trabeculse of connective tissue containing muscular fibres. The Clitoris.—The clitoris (Fig. 14, d) is a small erectile tubercle situated about half an inch below the anterior commissure of the labia majora. It is the analogue of the penis in the male, and is similar to it in structure, consisting of two corpora cavernosa, separated from each other by a fibrous septum. The crura are covered by the ischio-cavern- ous muscles, which serve the same purpose as in the male. It has also a suspensory ligament. The corpora cavernosa are composed of a vas- cular plexus with numerous traversing muscular fibres. The arteries are derived from the internal pudic artery, which gives a branch, the cavernous, to each half of the organ ; there is also a dorsal artery dis-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2121072x_0058.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
