Graafian follicle
Official name: Ovarian follicle
Regnier de Graaf (1641-1673), a Dutch physician, was the first to observe the mammalian egg — well, almost. What he actually saw were the knobbly protuberances on the ovary now known as follicles, which contain the egg, fluid and other cells.
Bartholin’s glands
Official name: Greater vestibular glands
Caspar Bartholin the Younger (1655-1738), a Danish anatomist, described a pair of glands on either side of the vaginal opening that connect to two pea-sized sacs that make a lubricating fluid.
Pouch of Douglas
Official name: Rectouterine pouch
James Douglas (1655-1738), a Scottish obstetrician and physician to Queen Caroline, has the dubious honor of having his name attached to a cul-de-sac of flesh that drapes from the back of the uterus to the rectum.
Skene’s glands
Official name: Paraurethral gland
“I know nothing about their physiology,” declared Alexander J.C. Skene (1837-1900), a Scottish American gynecologist, upon describing a pair of glands that flank the female urethra. The glands secrete a milky fluid that lubricates the area and may help ward against urinary tract infections.