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.
60/708 page 52
![Orifice of the Yadlna.—The orifice of the vagina is situated immedi- ately below the bulb of the urethra. In virgins it is a circular opening, but in women who have borne children or practised sexual intercourse it is, in the undistended state, a fissure, running transversely and at right angles to that between the labia.^ In virgins it is generally more or less blocked up by a fold of mucous membrane, containing some cellular tissue and muscular fibres, with vessels and nerves, which_is kno^vn as the hymen. This is most often crescentic in shape, with the concavity of the crescent looking upward; sometimes, however, it is cir- cular with a central opening, or cribriform : or it may even be entirely im]jerforate, and this gives rise to the retention of the menstrual secre- tion. These varieties of form depend on the peculiar mode of develop- ment of the fold of vaginal mucous membrane which blocks up the orifice of the vagina in the foetus, and from which the hymen is formed. The density of the membrane also varies in different individuals. INIost usually it is very slight, so as to be ruptured in the first sexual approaches, or even by some accidental circumstance, such as stretching the limbs, so that its absence cannot be taken as evidence of want of chastity. A knowledge of this fact is of considerable importance from a medico-legal point of view. Sometimes it is so tough as to prevent intercourse altogether, and may require division by the knife or scissors before this can be effected ; ancl at others it rather unfolds than ruptures, so that it may exist even after impregnation has been eifected, and it has been met with intact in women who have habitually led unchaste lives. In a few rare cases it has even formed an obstacle to delivery, and has required incision during labor. Ca)-uncuke llyrtiformes.—The caruncuke myrtiformes are small fleshy tubercles, varying from two to five in number, situated around the orifice of the vagina, and which are generally supposed to be the remains of the ruptured hymen. Schroeder, however, maintains that they are only formed after childbearing in consequence of parts of the hymen having been destroyed by the injuries received during the passage of the child. Vulvo-vaainal Gkmds.—Near the posterior part of the vaginal orifice, and below the superficial perineal fascia, are situated two conglomerate glands which are the analogues of Cowper's glands in the male. Each of these is about the size and shape of an almond, and is contained in a cellular fibrous envelope. Internally they are of a yellowish-white color, and are composed of a number of lobules separated from each other by prolongations of the external envelope. These give origin to separate ducts which unite into a common canal, about half an inch in length, which opens in front of the attached edge of the hymen in virgins, and in married women at the base of one of the carunculse myrtiformes. According to Huguier, the size of the glands varies much in different women, and they appear to have some connection with the ovary, as he has always found the largest gland to be on the same side as the largest ovary. They secrete a glairy, tenacious fluid, which is ejected in jets during the sexual orgasm, probably through the spasmodic action of the perineal muscles. At other times their secretion serves the purpose of ^ Hart, op. cif.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2121072x_0060.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
