What Every Girl Should Know

by Margaret Sanger

FIG. I.
UTERUS—TUBES AND OVARIES.

To the right the ovary and tube have been laid open.

a—Uterus.

b—Ovary.

c—Fallopian Tube.

glands about the size and shape of an almond, placed one on each side of the extreme lower part of the woman's abdomen. They are imbedded in large ligaments and tissues which also help to hold the uterus (the womb) in place. Inside the ovaries are thousands of little eggs called ovules, which have been there since the birth of the girl. It is claimed there are from twenty to fifty thousand ovules in the ovary at birth. The work of the ovary is to develop and mature these eggs, and send them on to be fertilized. At the time of puberty, these eggs are all in different stages of development. Those in the center of the ovary ripen first and burst through the outer cover of the ovary (which is like a capsule and at the time of menstruation becomes swollen and congested). The ovule is caught by the fringy ends of the fallopian tubes which are in a constant lashing motion, which motion sends the egg through the tube to the uterus.

The fallopian tubes are about four and one-half inches in length and join the ovaries to the upper and outer angle of the uterus. Its duties are to convey the ova from the ovary to the uterus. Sometimes the sperm cell from the male comes up into the tube to meet the egg and it is fertilized here. The union of the two cells usually occurs in the outer end of the fallopian tube; but this is not the nest nature has prepared for the egg's development, and unless it returns into the uterus it causes serious trouble and an operation is necessary. Impregnation in the tube is very rare, but it is possible.

The uterus, often spoken of as the womb, is a hollow muscular organ into which the egg comes from the tubes to be fertilized—four to eight days from ovaries to uterus. After fertilization it remains here, is nourished and developed until it can develop no more. Then it is thrown out by the contraction of the muscles, which process we call the birth of a child. The uterus is about three inches long, its shape is like a pear with the small end downward. It is not fastened to any of the bony parts, but is held in place by the ligaments and tissues, which also allow it to move with different movements of the body. One of the most interesting features about the uterus which is so small in its cavity is that it can stretch to accommodate the growing child within it to the length of nineteen to twenty-one inches. This is because it is one and one half inches thick and composed of layers of muscles which are tough and yet elastic. At the upper side of the uterus are the openings into the fallopian tubes. At the small end of the uterus is another opening leading into the vagina. It is through this opening the sperm of the male comes in order to fertilize the egg. Thus you can readily see the uterus is the nest or cradle where the egg is to live until it becomes strong enough to subsist on other nourishment.

The vagina is a muscular tube-like passage which extends from the small part of the uterus (called the neck) to the outer surface of the body, where its opening is usually partly closed in virgins by a thin membrane or film known as the hymen. The walls of the vagina are also very thick and elastic. This is sometimes called the birth canal. The hymen was for years a subject for discussion in the professional world among physicians. In my talks to girls I find it a subject of great interest and often anxiety to many of them, for the average girl seems possessed with the old idea that the presence of the hymen is necessary to marital happiness. The time was not long ago when its absence was considered cause for serious discord between husband and wife, and I have been told that under the old law its absence was sufficient ground for divorce.

Fortunately, modern science has thrown some light on this subject and disproved the theory that its absence was necessarily due to a woman's having had sexual relations. There are cases on record of women who have lived four and five years in prostitution who were found with perfectly preserved hymen. It is important to know that it differs in size and shape in women. Also, that in some women it has been entirely absent since birth. Many little girls and babies have no hymen. It can be destroyed by accident or injured by operations, or examinations where the physician did not use the greatest care. In some women it is easily destroyed; in others it is more difficult. It is not at all uncommon for a physician to find the hymen unruptured when he comes to deliver the first born child. All of which goes to prove that neither its presence nor its absence is necessarily the sign of virginity.