OVARY (FUNCTIONS). 



nal outer coat of the Graafian follicle, which 

 in all the transformations of the latter suffers 

 no change, until the time arrives when the 

 whole body finally shrinks and disappears. 

 The position and relations of this coat to 

 surrounding parts leave no room for doubt as 

 to its identity. Nothing bounds it externally 

 but the stroma of the ovary. Nothing lines 

 it internally but the yellow ovisac. Neither 

 between its outer nor its inner surfaces, and 

 the corresponding structures just named, is 

 there at any time found any substance or me- 

 dium interposed. This coat has undergone 

 no material thickening, and its histological 

 elements are simply those of the outer coat 

 of the follicle, the same as before impregna- 

 tion has occurred. 



Proceeding inwards, the next coat is yel- 

 low ; it has a nearly uniform thickness of 

 ly. In its substance may still be seen traces 

 of the original foldings or convolutions. 

 These are more easily shown upon the sur- 

 face of the first section (fig. 386.), but are 

 less obvious in one carried deeper so as to 

 include the centre of the follicle, where the 



Fig. 387. 



Deeper section of the same Graafian follicle as in fig. 

 386. The cavity, which contains a remarkably clear 

 fluid, is exposed. (Ad Nat.) 



a, outer vascular coat (tunic of the ovisac) ; 6, 

 inner yellow coat, or corpus luteum (ovisae) ; c, 

 white membrane lining the cavity (a new forma- 

 tion) ; d, cavity empty. 



coat shows greater solidity (fig. 387.). Up to 

 this time, however, and sometimes later, the 

 vessels still traversing this coat in the lines of 

 its former convolutions may be traced in many 

 specimens, and the capillaries may still be filled 

 by a successful injection to such an extent as 

 to render the whole mass crimson.* Exa- 

 mined by the microscope, the following results 

 are obtained: The yellow coat, \-\\'" thick, 

 is soft, swells in water, and is easily torn into 

 fragments which nevertheless hang together, 

 being connected by a tough flexible medium. 

 During this process numerous oil droplets 

 escape, and form, with the drop of water in 

 which the preparation is placed, a highly re- 

 fractive fluid. This fluid, when examined, is 

 seen to contain numerous particles of inap- 

 preciable size endowed with molecular motion, 

 minute granules, and oil globules, which are at 

 first also very minute, but soon collect and 



* Montgomery, Signs of Pregnancy, p. 227. 



565 



coalesce into larger drops that float to the 

 surface of the fluid. The substance of the 

 preparation also is everywhere pervaded by 

 the oil drops which obscure its structure, and 

 prevent further examination in this state. 

 The preparation, having been treated next by 

 ether, and subsequently washed in alcohol and 

 replaced in water, it is found that the oil has 

 entirely disappeared. The principal portion 

 of the remaining substance has the appearance 

 of a granular membrane, but in many places 

 slightly wavy lines of connective tissue are 

 perceptible. From the margins project in 

 many places flattened bands composed of 

 8-10 filaments of common connective tissue, 

 united by membrane, and having attached to 

 them numerous granules. Separate fibres also 

 appear at the margin of the preparation, but 

 only from forcible detachment. Treated fur- 

 ther by acetic acid, the oil globules, as well 

 as the fibres, have totally disappeared. The 

 course of the latter is now only indicated by 

 nu-iierous lines of round, oval, or elongated 

 nuclei (fig. 388.), which are everywhere abun- 

 dantly seen attached to a fine, structureless, 

 transparent membrane. The outlines of the 



Fig. 388, 



X 350. 



nuclei are very sharp and distinct, and within 

 them are contained one or two nucleoli. This 

 coat is traversed by numerous blood-vessels 

 and capillaries, and to their coats in all proba- 

 bility many of these nuclei belong. 



The yellow coat is bounded internally by 

 a third tunic which is white, having pre- 

 cisely the milk-white colour, and very nearly 

 the consistence, of articular cartilage. It is 

 of variable thickness, but often %"' or more 

 in diameter. It is very tough and cohe- 

 rent in texture, and is with difficulty split 

 by needles, breaking into irregular fragments. 

 These, examined by the microscope, are seen 

 to be composed of tough fibres of con- 

 nective tissue, whose arrangement in wavy 

 lines may be perceived through the mass, but 

 which are so closely connected together, by a 

 semitransparent membranous medium as to be 

 inseparable into distinct fibrillae, except at the 

 margins of the fragments, where they are 

 tolerably distinct ; where also the connecting 

 medium may be seen in the form of a struc- 

 tureless membrane. Minute granules are every- 

 where seen scattered throughout the mass, and 

 adherent to the detached fibrillae. Treated 

 by acetic acid, the fibres become transparent 

 and pale, their outlines being hardly distin- 

 guishable. Oval nuclei, rather scanty, lie in 

 the direction of the fibres. The whole sub- 

 o o 3 



