Fifteen Days after Labor (Fig. 259). — The membrane on the in ternal face of the uterus is greyish-brown, .039 to .078 inches in height, still smooth and easy to detach, while the cells filled with fat are still to be seen on the surface. At the bottom of this young mucous membrane the glandular spaces tend to become vertical, and there exists proliferation of epithelium and of fibrous tissue. In the placental zone, organization and softening of the thrombi are going on. In the spaces which separate them, the young tissue of the mucous membrane devolopes, and the epithe thelium is in the form of a thin layer, extending to the top of the projec tions. The uterus, hence, presents a granular surface, so friable that it is possible to separate its elements readily, and it is just as ready to absorb septic products as on the seventh day.
Twenty-one Days after Delivery (Fig. 260).—The uterus is only 3.1 to 3.6 inches long; its walls are thinner, the cervical canal has reformed, and the internal os, easily recognized by the demarcation of the mucous membrane, has tightly closed; the placental site, still of the breadth of 1.1 to 1.3 inches, is uneven, projecting hero and there, and traversed by thrombi. Above the superficial greyish layer, a new mucous membrane has formed, about .039 of an inch thick, which merges directly into the mucous membrane of the body of the uterus; but although complete in all its elements, the new mucous membrane is still not entirely intact; it is still like a wounded surface; it is still lacking in sufficient thickness, and, above all, in its circulatory net-work, which was torn off with the membranes, and which is of such importance to the functions of this membrane. The thrombi have largely disappeared, but in places they
still exist as light yellow bodies.
Six Weeks after Delivery (Fig. 261).--The new mucous membrane has thickened; the return to the normal has been almost accomplished, except at the placental site, where it is less complete. Above the superficial layer the vascular net-work is complete.
Finally, ten weeks after delivery (Fig. 262), the mucous membrane is entire. In case inflammatory processes have existed, not only, as gun drat has shown, is total involution of the uterus interfered with, but, in particular, is regeneration of the mucous membrane irregular. In such cases, the normal glandular organs, are only reformed at the expense of those original glands which have remained intact, and there results only an incomplete mucous substratum, made up, especially, of connective tis sue, with certain glandular depressions not markedly accentuated, and showing scarcely any epithelium.