56 STUDIES ON PATHOLOGIC OVA. 



10 cases. Hence, although infiltration of the decidua was present in only 10, or 

 62.5 per cent, of the 16 specimens of this group, the decidua showed definite signs 

 of inflammation in every one of the 10 in which it was present and sufficiently 

 well preserved. Some decidua, in fact, contained considerable masses of purulent 

 material. The infiltration was often very marked locally, small accumulations 

 of leucocytes being scattered about more or less at random ; but this form of infil- 

 tration frequently was accompanied also by an infiltration more or less general 

 and uniform in character, and by other changes. Whether or not these infil- 

 trations were confined to the decidua I am not able to say, for uterine muscu- 

 lature was not included. In most cases, however, the process had the appearance 

 of a low-grade chronic inflammation. In only a few was a severe infection very 

 evidently present. 



Of the abortuses composed of villi only included in the first 1,000, all but 3 

 had a maximum length of less than 50 mm. One measured 68 mm., another 100 

 mm., and a third 120 mm. However, since considerable allowance must be made 

 for distortion, for variations in the length of villi, and for maceration, as well as 

 for increase in size due to the surrounding decidua and blood-clot, it is evident that 

 the measurements of the abortuses are often too large to represent, even approxi- 

 mately, the true age, not only of the accompanying cyema, but of the chorionic 

 vesicle or placenta as well. It is evident also that, in case of abortuses composed 

 of villi only, the measurements, even if not affected by the presence of blood-clot 

 and decidua, could in no sense be more than roughly indicative of the age of the 

 specimen unless the chorionic membrane were preserved sufficiently to retain its 

 form and size. Furthermore, since the specimens in this group include material 

 from curettage also, a discussion of their size as related to their anatomical or 

 menstrual age can have no value. 



The largest specimen in this group is a hydatiform degeneration, containing 

 no trace of the cyema. Such a specimen can not with propriety be designated as 

 villi only; nevertheless, the exigencies of the situation make its inclusion here of 

 some practical value. In other instances one could speak of the size of the mole, 

 perhaps, but unless composed of solid masses of villi, moles really belong in the 

 second group. In still other instances, such as No. 698, the main mass of the 

 abortus was composed of decidua, so that although only what was originally taken 

 for the chorionic vesicle was measured, this measurement nevertheless is wholly 

 erroneous, for it is impossible to exclude the blood-clot, which, in this case, very 

 greatly affects the size of the specimen. 



Unfortunately, menstrual age is not a reliable criterion of the true age of the 

 specimens in this group, the state of preservation of which alone indicated that 

 many of them were retained a considerable length of time after their death. The 

 latter is indicated, not only by the disproportion between the size of the abortus 

 and the menstrual age, but also by the degenerative changes present in the speci- 

 mens themselves. The longest menstrual age (218 days) is found in specimen No. 

 70, in which the size of the conceptus or cyema indicates an anatomical age of 

 only 50 days. 



