122 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



being left. Dr. Meyer describes 6 specimens in which there is clear 

 evidence of almost complete intrauterine absorption. In one of these 

 there remained only a few vestiges of syncytium and trophoblast 

 which had been aborted in an entire and intact decidua. The condition 

 of the decidua shows that a considerable regeneration of the endome- 

 trium had occurred. Also, in tubal and ovarian pregnancies there 

 occurs a similar lysis and absorption of many of the specimens. 



The possibility of the disintegration and spontaneous disappearance 

 of the conceptus in ovarian pregnancy modifies the generally accepted 

 criteria as to what constitutes an authentic case of this supposedly rare 

 condition. If such absorption does occur, as is maintained in the 

 paper of Meyer and Wynne, then the entire absence of remnants of 

 the conceptus does not positively exclude a case from the category 

 of true ovarian pregnancy. These authors regard most of the cases of 

 so-called hematocele, hematoma, blood-cyst, and rupture of the ovaries 

 as possible cases of ovarian pregnancy in disguise. They include in 

 their study the report of a case in which the clinical and histological 

 data are particularly complete and which, from an anatomical stand- 

 point, is wholly unequivocal. 



Continuing her investigations on spina bifida, Dr. Theodora Wheeler 

 has extended them to include the various rudimentary forms of the 

 anomaly, as characterized by incomplete closure of the dorsal verte- 

 bral laminse. From an examination of 1,000 X-ray plates of the lum- 

 bar region and several thousand cervical vertebrce in the National 

 Museum at Washington, together with cases reported in the literature, 

 Dr. Wheeler finds that the order of frequency of incomplete closure 

 in the various regions is as follows: (1) first sacral; (2) entire sacrum; 

 (3) last lumbar; (4) atlas. 



In this connection reference may be made also to a paper published 

 by Mr. S. T. Wallis (^uU on a fetal spina bifida monster. This speci- 

 men, although having a menstrual age of only 79 days, presents abnor- 

 malities of brain, spinal cord, viscera, and skeleton generally supposed 

 to be characteristic of only much older monsters. The author thus adds 

 further evidence to the ^'iew tliat the cause of spina bifida dates back 

 to the early part of pregnancy. 



