412 FRANKLIN P. MALL , 



is also from a Filipino woman who was killed in an accident, 

 likewise had a small o\iim measuring 2.3- x 1.2 mm., well im- 

 planted in the uterus. In this case the corpus luteum was 'fresh 

 but closed.' The well known Reichert specimen which measured 

 5.5 X 3.3 mm., with a copulation age of 16 days or more, has in 

 one ovary a well-formed corpus luteum, 20 x 17.5 mm. which 

 has within it a small cavity containing some blood. Finally, 

 Johnstone^ describes and pictures the corpus luteum of an ovum 

 almost the size of Peters' specimen, which measures 13x10 mm. 

 Its center is occupied by a large mass of pale, finely granular 

 material which stained pink with eosin. The periphery is com- 

 posed of a layer of lutein cells bordered on the inside by a layer 

 of red blood corpuscles. The lutein layer, which is 8 x 10 cells 

 deep, is crinkled, owing to papillary ingrowths of connective 

 tissue. There is a great deal of vacuolation of the lutein cells 

 and the whole layer is quite vascular. The specimen came 

 from a woman, aged 29, who died suddenly, not having missed 

 a period, nor was it suspected that she was pregnant. 



A step in advance on the study of the structure of the corpus 

 luteum was made by R. Meyer^ in his excellent pape"r on the 

 subject. He classifies its development into four stages as 

 follows : 



1. Proliferation or early hyperemic stage of the Graafian 

 follicle with transformation of the granular cells into lutein cells. 



2. Early hyperemic stage of the corpus luteum with beginning 

 transformation into the second stage of granular metamor- 

 phosis. 



The blood-vessels now permeate the layer of lutein cells. 



3. Mature or blossoming stage of the corpus luteum. 



4. Stage of involution. 



Sometimes when the follicle ruptures it simply collapses, and 

 hemorrhage does not always take place within it. The speci- 

 mens studied by Meyer were increased in number and reported 



8 Johnstone, R. W. 1914 Contribution to the study of the early human ovum. 

 Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the British Empire. 



'Meyer, R. 1911 Ueber corpus luteum-Bildung beim Menschen. Archiv 

 fiir Gynaekologie, Bd. 93, 1911. 



