Gynaecology for students and practitioners . who have sus-tained local injury in child-birth the ostium is enlarged and patulous(sse Fig. 40). The hymen is a membrane, of average thickness ofabout \ inch, attached to the posterior one-half or two-thirds ofthe ostium vaginae, and having usually a free, crescentic, anteriorborder which bisects the ostium. In front of this free border lies aspace giving entrance to the vaginal canal (sse Fig. 38). Betweenthe posterior border of the hymen and the fourchette is a small 62 GYNECOLOGY area which, when the nymphse are separated, forms a shallow ovalde
Gynaecology for students and practitioners . who have sus-tained local injury in child-birth the ostium is enlarged and patulous(sse Fig. 40). The hymen is a membrane, of average thickness ofabout \ inch, attached to the posterior one-half or two-thirds ofthe ostium vaginae, and having usually a free, crescentic, anteriorborder which bisects the ostium. In front of this free border lies aspace giving entrance to the vaginal canal (sse Fig. 38). Betweenthe posterior border of the hymen and the fourchette is a small 62 GYNECOLOGY area which, when the nymphse are separated, forms a shallow ovaldepression—the fossa navicularis. In parous women this fossa is notseen, for even slight puerperal lacerations destroy it. Structurally the hymen is composed of well-developed but veryvascular connective tissue. On both its vaginal and perineal surfacesit is covered with stratified squamous epithelium {see Fig. 39). The shape and character of the hymen are very variable. It issometimes attached all round the margins of the ostium vaginse ;. Fig. 41. Lateral and Front Views or the Gland of Bartholin and OF THE Erectile Structures of the External Organs. A, Gland of Bartholin; B, Bulbus vestibuli; C, Sphincter vaginae muscle; Z), Glans clitoridis; E, Body of clitoris. it may then have either a central aperture, or two lateral aperturesseparated by an antero-posterior fold of membrane, or a number ofsmall openings irregularly distributed—cribriform hymen. Some-times no aperture at all exists, so that the vagina is completely closedby it below—imperforate hymen. The strength and dilatability ofthe hymeneal membrane are variable ; it may be so elastic as tostretch without lacerating during coitus ; on the other hand, it maybe so resistant that its removal is necessary before coitus can becompleted. It follows that the presence of an entire hymen is notmedico-legal evidence of virginity. In married women the hymenis, however, usually found divided by sulci into three or four port
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectgynecology, bookyear1
