PLATE II. This illustrates a cut or section, through the middle of the pelvis, from before backwards, so as to give a side view of the capacity of the true pelvis and of the organs that it contains. A careful study of this plate will permanently fix the anatomy in the reader’s mind. [Illustration: PLATE II A Median Section of the female Pelvis and of the Organs that are centrally located. This plate is anatomically correct; the uterus resting normally on and being elevated by the distended bladder.] The lines _a_ and _b_ show the planes of the inlet and outlet of the true pelvis, and it will be seen that within these lines the most important organs of the female are located. THE BLADDER. The bladder is situated at the anterior part of the pelvis. It is in relation, _in front_ with the _symphysis pubis_, behind with the womb, some convolutions of the small intestines being interposed; its base lies in contact with the neck of the uterus and with the anterior wall of the vagina. The bladder is said to be larger in the female than in the male, and is very broad in its transverse diameter. THE URETHRA. The urethra is a narrow membranous canal, about an inch and a half in length, extending from the neck of the bladder to the external orifice. It is placed beneath the symphysis pubis, embedded in the anterior wall of the vagina, and its direction is obliquely downwards and forwards. Its diameter, when undilated, is about a quarter of an inch; behind the bladder and urethra, there is in regular order the uterus and vagina, and behind both of these, the rectum. THE PERINEUM. The Perineum is the muscular triangular body between the vagina and rectum; it constitutes a segment of the female pelvic floor; it is the _prop_ for all the pelvic organs, and for that reason every woman should know precisely what it is, and study the plate carefully until she understands it. The skin covering it is of a dark color, thin and freely movable over the underlying parts. There is no part of the pelvic anatomy so vulnerable, because in confinement during the passage of the child’s head into the world, the perineum is put on a great stretch, and if the delivery progresses too quickly or is hurried, then the tissues have no time to stretch themselves so as to accommodate the child’s head, and they must naturally tear. The awkward and officious use of instruments will do the same thing. I have seen the perineum torn asunder from this cause, from the vagina and back into the rectum. PLATE III is one of the most instructive drawings that I could devise. It gives the reader a practical illustration of the internal generative organs and their anatomical relations to each other. This was a drawing from my own dissection, and the clearness and artistic reproduction is due to the skill of the engraver, Mr. H. X. Van de Casteele, of this city. THE VAGINA.