The mucous membrane within the meatus is slightly depressed at its floor, which gives the urine a direction forwards and upwards. The whole canal is surrounded with a plexus of numerous small veins, mixed with a consi derable quantity of elastic or contractile tis sue (the corpus spongiosunz); hence the female urethra possesses the undoubted attributes of an erectile structure.
Organization.--The organization of the fe male urethra is analogous to that of the male : it is essentially a mucous canal, belonging to the genitourinary division of mucous mem branes, and is composed of a mucous layer, covered externally by a layer of contractile tissue. The mucous layer is formed of the ordinary basement membrane, covered with a dense pavement epithelium, formed of broad, oval, and conical, compressed cells. External to this is a layer of that remarkable tissue de scribed by Kolliker as entering so extensively into the structure of the male urethra, as well as all the other mucous outlets of the body ; this is 'necessarily much more simple in its arrangement than the corresponding layer of the male urethra, and is continuous with some of the longitudinal muscular fibres of the bladder.
The arteries supplying the urethra are de rived from the inferior vesicle, the uterine, and vaginal.
The veins terminate in the pudic or branches of the internal iliac.
The lymphatics terminate in the hypogas tric ganglia.
Its nerves arise from the pudic and the by pogastric plexus of the sympathetic.
Prostate gland of the female.— Has the fe male. a prostate ? Guthrie, in his work on " Diseases of the Bladder and Urethra," as signs a prostate to the female, which, accord ing to him, has a form like that of the male prostate, and nearly a similar structure. He says it surrounds the commencement of the urethra. He further states it to be the size of the prostate of a boy before the age of pu berty ; and rather regards it as existing in a rudimentary form than as an organ possessing any follicular or glandular structure. He con
siders it as of use in giving the urethra support, and as affording a fixed point for the action of some of the muscular fibres of the bladder.
Guthrie quotes the authority of De Graaf, "De Mulierum Organic," in support of his opinion. " Sed ulterius, inquiret aliquis, uncle illi duetus sive lacuna. humorent ilium hauriant? priores ilia scilicet, guocirca colli orificium et meatus urinarii exilum conspiciuntur ex parasta tis mulierunt sett pains erasso et mentbranoso corpore circumcirca meatunt urinarium existente huniorem swim accipiunl ; posteriores vero ex nervoso-ntembranosa colli uterini substantui rem scum colligunt." De Graaf, however, refers to that mass of follicles surrounding the meatus and com mencement of the urethra, rather than to any special organ worthy of the designation of prostate. Cowper also denominates the mass of follicles surrounding the meatus as the "corpus glandidosum." I confess that I have not been able to trace a prostate in connection with the female urethra: there is, however, generally found a firm mass around the canal, which is much thicker at the under part than at the upper, and to which I believe Mr. Guthrie refers. It is certainly not muscular; but it does not present evidences of glandular structure; containing merely a large quantity of areolar and elastic fibre. Accord ing to the notions of the homologies of the male and female now prevalent, the prostate should be represented in the female by a rudi mentary structure in connection with the uterus rather than the urethra, inasmuch as it is essentially a sexual organ, and developed in the embryo from the proton:dm.