9 2 



CHILD. 



[VOL. I. 



at the right of Fig. 4. These cells are especially abundant 

 near the periphery of the ovary. The amount of cytoplasm is 

 small, and the cell boundaries are very difficult to see, so that 

 the general effect of the section through a mass of these cells 

 is that of large numbers of closely crowded, elongated, deeply 

 chromatic nuclei lying in a very faintly stained ground sub- 

 stance. Large strands of these cells extend toward the inte- 

 rior of the ovary and often surround the corpora lutea. Fig. 4 

 is a group of cells taken from the margin of one of these 

 strands. The remaining portions of the stroma are composed 

 of the cells shown in Fig. 4 to the left and in Fig. 5. The 

 nucleus is scarcely elongated and stains less deeply, the cells 



FIG. 4. 



FIG. 5. 



are polyhedral in outline, and the cell boundaries are more dis- 

 tinct. As shown in Fig. 4, these two sorts of cells do not 

 appear to be sharply separated, but seem to grade into each 

 other through intermediate forms. Now if the polyhedral cells 

 in Figs. 4 and 5 were to undergo hypertrophy and acquire a 

 sphere and centrosome in the cytoplasm, they would resemble 

 very closely the cells of Figs, i, 2, and 3, or if these cells were 

 to shrink and lose their sphere and centrosome, they would 

 resemble the cells of Fig. 5. I believe it probable that one or 

 both of these changes occurs, and that the cells of Figs. I, 4, 

 and 5 represent different stages in the history of the same cell. 

 As to whether the hypertrophy is periodic or whether the 

 hypertrophied cells degenerate it is impossible to state as yet. 

 I have found, however, no definite indications of degeneration. 

 Although I have never been able to find sphere or centro- 

 some in the ovarian stroma of non-pregnant animals, at present 

 the possibility of their existence cannot be denied. However, 

 I think it improbable that it does exist as such. 



