SECTION I GYNEGOLOGY 



(Hall 13, September 24, 10 a. m.) 



CHAIRMAN: PROFESSOR HOWARD A. KELLY, Johns Hopkins University. 

 SPEAKER: PROFESSOR JOHN CLARENCE WEBSTER, Rush Medical College, Chi- 

 cago. 

 SECRETARY: DR. G. H. NOBLE, Atlanta, Ga. 



SOME FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS IN OBSTETRICS AND 



GYNECOLOGY 



BY JOHN CLARENCE WEBSTER 



[John Clarence Webster, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Rush Medi- 

 cal College, affiliated with Chicago University, b. Shediac, N. B., Canada. 

 B.A. Mount Allison College, N. B., 1882 ; M.B. C.M. Edinburgh University, 

 1888; M.D. ibid. 1891. F. R. C. P. E. 1893; special studies in Leipzig and 

 Berlin. First assistant in Department of Midwifery and Diseases of Women, Uni- 

 versity of Edinburgh, 1890-98; Lecturer on Gynecology, McGill University; 

 Assistant Gynecologist, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, 1897-99. Member 

 of the Royal Academy of Medical Science, Palermo, Italy; British Medical 

 Association; Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh; Edinburgh Obstetrical 

 Society; President of Chicago Gynecological Society; Fellow of American 

 Medical Association, and American Gynecological Society. Author of vari- 

 ous monographs and papers, and medical books such as Text-Book of Obstetrics; 

 Diseases of Women; Human Placentation, etc.] 



MARKED as have been the advances during the modern scientific 

 era in our knowledge of woman in respect to her anatomic and phy- 

 siologic peculiarities, her special diseases, and the treatment thereof, 

 many problems yet await solution, some of which are chiefly of 

 scientific interest, others of therapeutic importance. 



In complying with the request of the organizers of this great 

 Congress, I have fully realized the seriousness of the responsibility 

 which I have assumed in restricting myself to the topics which I 

 have selected for your consideration. I have avoided all reference to 

 matters pertaining to the treatment of disease, believing that the 

 presentation of certain fundamental scientific problems would be 

 more in keeping with the aims of this convention. I have also 

 deemed it best to confine myself to a few topics of particular interest 

 or importance, rather than to wander discursively over the entire 

 scientific field open to the gynecologist. Your attention is, there- 

 fore, directed to the following subjects: 



1. The determination of sex. 



2. The structure of the ovary. 



3. The functions of the ovary. 



