=The Fallopian tubes= are two tortuous, muscular tubes, four or five inches long, extending laterally in an upward curve, from the cornua of the uterus and within the folds of the upper margin of the _broad ligament_, by which they are covered. At their juncture with the uterus, the diameter of these tubes is so small as to admit of the introduction of only a fine bristle, but they gradually increase in size toward their termination in wide trumpet-shaped orifices, which open directly into the peritoneal cavity. Finger-like projections called _fimbriæ_, fringe the margins of these openings. The mucous lining of the tubes is covered with ciliated epithelium and is continuous with that of the uterus. At the fimbriated extremities of the tubes this lining merges into the peritoneum, the serous lining of the abdominal cavity. Just here it will be well to say a word about the peritoneum because of the possibility of its becoming infected during labor and the lying-in period, and the very grave consequences of such infection. It is a delicate, highly vascular, serous membrane which both lines the abdominal cavity and covers the abdominal and pelvic organs, which press into its outer surface and are covered much as one’s fingers would be covered by pushing them into the outer surface of a child’s toy balloon. The continuity of this membrane is broken only where it is entered by the Fallopian tubes. =The ovary=, the sex gland of the female, is a small, tough ductless gland, about an inch long and three-quarters of an inch wide, or about the size and shape of an almond. It is greyish pink in color and presents a more or less irregular, dimpled surface. An ovary is suspended on either side of the uterus, in the posterior fold of the broad ligament, by which it is partly covered. Its outer end is usually attached to the longest of the fimbriated extremities of the Fallopian tube, the _fimbria ovarica_, which has the form of a shallow gutter, or groove. The inner end of the ovary is attached to the _ovarian ligament_, which in turn is attached to the uterus below and behind the tubal entrance. The ovary consists of two parts, the central part or _medulla_, composed of connective tissue, nerves, blood and lymph vessels, and the _cortex_, in which are embedded the vesicular _Graafian follicles_ containing the ova. At birth each ovary contains upwards of 50,000 of these ova, which are the germ cells concerned with reproduction and the process of menstruation. These ovarian glands perform two vital functions, for in addition to their prime function of producing and maturing the germinal cell of the female, they provide an internal secretion which exercises an immeasurably important, though imperfectly understood, influence upon the general well-being of the entire organism. [Illustration: FIG. 12.—Sagittal section of female generative tract. Drawn by Max Brodel. (Used by permission of A. J. Nystrom & Co., Chicago.) ]