SUBCHAPTER C

      THE PELVIS

      The internal sex organs are situated in the lower part of the abdominal cavity, the part that is called the pelvis, or pelvic cavity. The meaning of the word pelvis in Latin is basin. The pelvis, also referred to as the pelvic girdle or pelvic arch, forms a bony basin, and is composed of three powerful bones: the sacrum, consisting of five vertebræ fused together and constituting the solid part of the spine, or vertebral column, in the back, and the two hipbones, one on each side. The two hipbones meet in front, forming the pubic arch.

      The hipbones are called in Latin the ossa innominata (nameless bones) and each hipbone is composed of three bones: the ilium, the ischium, and the os pubis. The thighs are attached to the hipbones, and to the hipbones are also attached the large gluteal muscles, which form the buttocks, or the "seat."

      The pelvis of the female differs considerably from the pelvis of the male. The female pelvis is shallower and wider, less massive, the margins of the bones are more widely separated, thus giving greater prominence to the hips; the sacrum is shorter and less curved, and the pubic arch is wider and more rounded. All this is necessary in order to permit the child's head to pass through. If the female pelvis were exactly like the male pelvis, a full-term living child could never pass through it. The two illustrations show the differences between the male and female pelvis very clearly.

      Note particularly the differences in the pubic arches: in the male pelvis it is really more of an angle than an arch. Also note how much longer and more solid the sacrum (with its attached bone, called the coccyx2) is in the male pelvis. The differences in the pelves (the plural of pelvis is pelves) of the male and female become fully marked at puberty, but they are present as early as the fourth month of intra-uterine life.

      Chapter Three

      THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE FEMALE SEX ORGANS

      The importance of an organ depends upon its function, upon what it does, and not so much upon what it is. It is important to know the size, structure and location of an organ, but it is still more important to know its function; in other words, for our purpose it is more important to know the physiology than the anatomy of the sex organs.

      SUBCHAPTER A

      FUNCTION OF THE OVARIES

      Like the testicles in man, so the ovaries in woman are the essential sexual organs. They are the fundamental organs, without which the other sexual organs are useless. Also like the testicles in man, the ovaries have two distinct functions, manufacturing two distinct substances. One function is to manufacture eggs; this, called the oögenetic or egg-producing function, is its racial function; without it the race could not perpetuate itself. But the ovary has also an individual function. Besides the ova, the ovary manufactures what we call an internal secretion which is absorbed by the blood, and which is of the greatest importance to the woman herself. While the manufacture of ova begins only at puberty, with menstruation, and closes at the menopause, the manufacture of the internal secretion lasts throughout the woman's entire life. This secretion, which consists of various chemical substances, has a tremendous influence not only on the development of the woman's body, but also on her feelings.

      First of all it is necessary for the development of the woman's special characteristics, or secondary sexual characters. Without that internal secretion of the ovaries, a woman would look more or less like a man; she would not develop her beautiful rounded form, her pretty long hair, her breasts, her broad pelvis, her feminine voice, etc. Second, the secretion is necessary to the proper development of her other sexual organs; if the ovaries are cut out, then the uterus and the vagina and even the vulva shrivel up. Third, it is that internal secretion that excites in woman sexual desire and makes her enjoy relations with the male sex. If the ovaries are cut away, particularly if it is done early in life, the woman has no sexual desire and no enjoyment. Fourth, it contributes to the general health, wellbeing, energy, and mental alertness of the woman.

      You see the importance of the internal ovarian secretion, and you will readily understand why, when the ovaries are removed by operation, the woman, particularly if she is young, undergoes such marked changes. It is because we recognize now the great importance of the ovaries that we always, when operating on diseased ovaries leave at least a small piece of ovary, if at all possible.

      Number of Ova. When the female infant is born, her ovaries contain as many ova or eggs as they ever will contain. In fact, they contain more than they will at puberty. For it is estimated that at birth each ovary contains about 100,000 ova; the majority of these, however, disappear so that at the age of puberty each ovary contains only about 30,000 ova. As only one ovum ripens each month from the time of puberty to the time of the menopause (i.e., about 300 to 400 ova at the utmost during a lifetime), and as only a dozen or two ova would be necessary for the propagation of the race, it seems a superabundance of ova, an unnecessary lavishness. But nature is lavish where the propagation of the species is concerned. A portion of an ovary or of both ovaries might become diseased, and thousands of ova might become unfit for fertilization; nature therefore puts in an extra reserve supply. We see a still more striking example of this extreme extravagant lavishness in man; only one spermatozoön is necessary to impregnate the ovum, and only one spermatozoön can penetrate the ovum; nevertheless each normal ejaculation of semen contains between a quarter and half a million spermatozoa.

      The Graafian Follicles. Each primitive or primordial ovum3 is imbedded in a little vesicle or follicle, which is generally known as Graafian follicle, and there are as many Graafian follicles as there are ova. (The Graafian follicles