CLASSIFICATION. 49 



Although we know very little about the existence of abnormal ova, the relative 

 frequency with which anomalous forms of spermatozoa occur would alone seem 

 to make decidedly venturesome the assumption that there is no such thing as 

 germinal anomalies. In view of the fact that we frankly recognize the occur- 

 rence of hereditary anomalies, germinal causes certainly can not be excluded. 

 Yet I presume it would be difficult to refer to such specimens as pathologic unless 

 we extended the customary meaning of this term very materially. 



After grouping all specimens among the abnormal and the normal, each of 

 these classes could then be subdivided very much as the group of pathologic speci- 

 mens under the Mall classification i. e., fragments of villi or vesicles may be either 

 normal or abnormal; and I think it will be possible to show that the same may be 

 true, certainly of the macerated, and probably also of most of the stunted cyemeta, 

 for death in these may have been due purely to mechanical or other causes, which 

 have not resulted in any abnormality of development, the changes in external form 

 being the result of postmortem antepartum changes, as suggested by Giacomini. 



By the addition of three groups before that composed of villi only, all abor- 

 tuses would seem to be provided for. These groups would be composed of those 

 containing syncytial remnants only, those containing trophoblast only, and those 

 containing both syncytium and trophoblast. However, since as Muller (1847) 

 emphasized, normal embryos may be found in diseased vesicles and abnormal 

 embryos in normal vesicles, it also will be necessary to classify vesicles and cyemata 

 separately whenever both do not fall into the same group. 



