Henry Gray (18251861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
The Mons Pubis (commissura labiorum anterior; mons Veneris), the rounded eminence in front of the pubic symphysis, is formed by a collection of fatty tissue beneath the integument. It becomes covered with hair at the time of puberty.
The Labia Majora (labia majora pudendi) are two prominent longitudinal cutaneous folds which extend downward and backward from the mons pubis and form the lateral boundaries of a fissure or cleft, the pudendal cleft or rima, into which the vagina and urethra open. Each labium has two surfaces, an outer, pigmented and covered with strong, crisp hairs; and an inner, smooth and beset with large sebaceous follicles. Between the two there is a considerable quantity of areolar tissue, fat, and a tissue resembling the dartos tunic of the scrotum, besides vessels, nerves, and glands. The labia are thicker in front, where they form by their meeting the anterior labial commissure. Posteriorly they are not really joined, but appear to become lost in the neighboring integument, ending close to, and nearly parallel with, each other. Together with the connecting skin between them, they form the posterior labial commissure or posterior boundary of the pudendum. The interval between the posterior commissure and the anus, from 2.5 to 3 cm. in length, constitutes the perineum. The labia majora correspond to the scrotum in the male.
FIG. 1171 External genital organs of female. The labia minora have been drawn apart. (See enlarged image)
The Labia Minora (labia minora pudendi; nymphæ) are two small cutaneous folds, situated between the labia majora, and extending from the clitoris obliquely downward, lateralward, and backward for about 4 cm. on either side of the orifice of the vagina, between which and the labia majora they end; in the virgin the posterior ends of the labia minora are usually joined across the middle line by a fold of skin, named the frenulum of the labia or fourchette. Anteriorly, each labium