FIG. 10.—Internal genital organs of a girl aged eight years. Seen from behind. (From Toldt: Atlas of Human Anatomy.—Rebman Company, New York.) ]
The entrance to the vagina in the virgin is rounded, the posterior border of the aperture being deeply concave, whilst the anterior border is often slightly convex backwards. Where this feature is strongly marked, the orifice has a semilunar shape. The posterior concave border projects forward in the form of a fold, continuous above with the posterior vaginal wall; this fold is the hymen.
FIG. 11.—Reproductive organs of a girl aged ten years in median sagittal section. Left half. (From Toldt: Atlas of Human Anatomy.—Rebman Company, New York.) ]
FIG. 12.—Female external genital organs of a virgin, attached to the vagina which has been isolated and opened, and a portion of the cervix uteri, Hymen, etc. (From Toldt: Atlas of Human Anatomy.—Rebman Company, New York.) ]
FIG. 13.—The external genital organs of a virgin, drawn apart transversely (after von Preuschen). c. Clitoris. f. c. Frænum of the clitoris. n. Nymphæ. l. Labia majora. o. u. Urethral orifice. h. Hymen. f. n. Fossa navicularis. ]
The infantile uterus is so proportioned that its neck (_collum vel cervix uteri_) constitutes the larger part of the organ, as much indeed as two-thirds. Owing to the small size of the body (_corpus uteri_), the whole uterus is very flat, and its borders ascend in a direction almost parallel to each other, diverging somewhat abruptly into the Fallopian tubes, recalling in some degree the two-horned embryonic form of the organ (_uterus bicornis_). The plicæ palmatæ on the surface of the cervical canal, which make up the arbor vitæ uterina, are strongly developed; the median longitudinal ridge bifurcates, and its divisions can be traced on either side into the uterine orifice of the Fallopian tube (_ostium uterinum tubæ_). The lips of the vaginal portion of the cervix are comparatively speaking very large and terminate in sharp angles. The vaginal mucous membrane is everywhere beset with long papillæ. The development of the uterus shortly before puberty consists chiefly in the enlargement of the body of the uterus, and the growth of its walls in thickness.