[Illustration: The action of quickening]

The womb has two arteries on both sides of the spermatic vessels and the
hypogastric, which accompany the veins; and besides these, there are
several little nerves in the form of a net, which extend throughout it,
from the bottom of the _pudenda_; their chief function is sensibility
and pleasure, as they move in sympathy between the head and the womb.

It may be further noted that the womb is occasionally moveable by means
of the two ligaments that hang on either side of it, and often rises and
falls. The neck of the womb is extremely sensitive, so that if it be at
any time out of order through over fatness, moisture or relaxation, it
thereby becomes subject to barrenness. With pregnant women, a glutinous
matter is often found at the entrance to the womb so as to facilitate
the birth; for at the time of delivery, the mouth of the womb is opened
as wide as the size of the child requires, and dilates equally from top
to bottom.

The spermatic vessels in women, consist of two veins and two arteries,
which differ from those of men only in size and the manner of their
insertion; for the number of veins and arteries is the same as in men,
the right vein issuing from the trunk of the hollow vein descending and
besides them there are two arteries, which flow from the aorta.

These vessels are narrower and shorter in women than in men; but it must
be noticed that they are more intertwined and contorted than in men, and
shrink together by reason of their shortness that they may, by their
looseness, be better stretched out when necessary: and these vessels in
women are carried in an oblique direction through the lesser bowels and
testicles but are divided into two branches half way. The larger goes to