Cervical smear examination. Hands of a nurse hold implements to perform a cervical smear test. The nurse holds a duck-bill speculum at right; at left is a spatula. The patient's legs are at lower frame. The steel speculum is lubricated and gently inserted into the vagina with its bill" closed. The bill is then widened to open the vagina so that the cervix (the neck of the womb) can be examined. The spatula is then used to scrape a specimen of cellular material from the cervix. The extracted specimen of cells is then smeared onto a slide and examined in a laboratory for any abnormality which may indicate developing cervical cancer."