58 STUDIES ON PATHOLOGIC OVA. 



the interplical spaces and the mucosal diverticulae along a considerable sector of 

 the tube. In two other instances the degenerate trophoblast which bordered, 

 and to some extent invaded, the musculature reminded Mall of Hofbauer cells. 



The stroma of the villi was non-vascular in practically all instances, and only 

 a few small remnants of the degenerating vessels remained in some. To some 

 extent absence of vessels may be due to the youth of the specimens, but in the 

 main it is probably due to other factors. Even the villi that were capped by 

 considerable trophoblast and syncytium and which still were implanted in the 

 musculature were often non-vascular, and their stroma, as noted by Mall, was 

 usually mucoid. In contrasting the changes in the stroma of the villi found in 

 tubal with that of the same group of uterine specimens, the more degenerate 

 character of the stroma in the former is very evident. Moreover, not a single villus 

 with a fine, clear, glassy, translucent stroma was seen in this group, nor w.ere any 

 present which had a well-preserved young cellular stroma, or others in which the 

 formation of more than a few Hofbauer cells was in progress. The whole appear- 

 ance was rather that of a rapid destruction, although most of the clots in which the 

 villi were embedded were relatively fresh. Considerable portions of the clots 

 often contained a fibrin network, but all were unorganized, and no instances of an 

 ingrowth of connective tissue from the tubal wall were seen, in spite of the fact 

 that a few of the clots were relatively old and necrotic. 



In two instances in which no portion of the tube had been cut, the presence 

 of infection in it was made probable by the appearance of the contained clots. 

 In most of the latter the leucocytes were congregated more or less, or were formed 

 into small clumps even. Phagocytosis of the fetal membranes by the leucocytes 

 or by other cells was not noticed, although leucocytes had accumulated at the 

 periphery or even had entered into the interior of the stroma of degenerate villi. 

 No embryonic remnants whatever were found in the sections of a portion of one 

 tube, and degenerate trophoblast and syncytium only were present in two. This 

 fact, however, does not imply that phagocytosis was responsible for the absence 

 of villi. 



Out of the 33 specimens originally in this group, 2 were found to contain 

 remnants of the chorionic membrane and of the amnion, and hence were trans- 

 ferred to groups 2 and 3 respectively, and 10 were added. In 3, or 9 per cent, of 

 the 42 cases remaining, no infiltration, either of the clot or the wall of the tube, was 

 noticed. In 12, or 28.6 per cent, the infiltration was marked, and in 17, or 40.4 

 per cent, it was slight. 



Changes simulating those of lues were noticed in no tubal conceptuses in this 

 group, but several excellent examples of hydatiform degeneration were found in 

 Nos. 415, 602, 686, 772, and 889. According to Seitz (19040, the occurrence of 

 hydatiform moles was observed in connection with tubal pregnancies by Freund, 

 Matwejew and Sykow, Otto, and Wenzel. Others no doubt have observed it 

 since then, but as only a few villi are contained in a single cross-section of the tube, 

 and but few cross-sections of each specimen were examined in our series, one can 



