What is the mammæ?

What it is

• The mammæ secrete the milk, and are accessory glands of the generative system. They exist in the male as well as in the female; but in the former only in the rudimentary state, unless their growth is excited by peculiar circumstances.
• In the female they are two large hemispherical eminences lying within the superficial fascia and situated on the front and sides of the chest; each extends from the second rib above to the sixth rib below, and from the side of the sternum to near the midaxillary line. Their weight and dimensions differ at different periods of life, and in different individuals. Before puberty they are of small size, but enlarge as the generative organs become more completely developed.
• They increase during pregnancy and especially after delivery, and become atrophied in old age. The left mamma is generally a little larger than the right. The deep surface of each is nearly circular, flattened, or slightly concave, and has its long diameter directed upward and lateralward toward the axilla; it is separated from the fascia covering the Pectoralis major, Serratus anterior, and Obliquus externus abdominis by loose connective tissue.
• The subcutaneous surface of the mamma is convex, and presents, just below the center, a small conical prominence, the papilla. The Mammary Papilla or Nipple ( papilla mammæ ) is a cylindrical or conical eminence situated about the level of the fourth intercostal space. It is capable of undergoing a sort of erection from mechanical excitement, a change mainly due to the contraction of its muscular fibers.
• It is of a pink or brownish hue, its surface wrinkled and provided with secondary papillæ; and it is perforated by from fifteen to twenty orifices, the apertures of the lactiferous ducts. The base of the mammary papilla is surrounded by an areola. In the virgin the areola is of a delicate rosy hue; about the second month after impregnation it enlarges and acquires a darker tinge, and as pregnancy advances it may assume a dark brown or even black color.
• This color diminishes as soon as lactation is over, but is never entirely lost throughout life.