472 



THE OVARIES. 



is attached to the dense cord already described as the lifiament of the 

 ovary, wliich connects it with the uterus. Its outer extremity is more 

 obtuse and rounded, and has attached to it the middle or ovarian fimbria 

 of the Fallopian tube. 



Pis- ^'^4. Fig. 334.— Skction op the 



PREPARED Ovary op the 

 Cat (from ScliriJnj. § 

 1, outer covering and 

 free border of the ovary ; 

 1', attached border ; 2, the 

 o\'arian stroma, iiresent- 

 iiig a fibrous and vascular 

 structure ; 3, external fibro- 

 nuclear substance ; 4, blood- 

 vessels ; 5, ovigerms in 

 their earliest stages lying 

 near the surface ; G, ovi- 

 germs which have begun to 

 enlarge and to pass more 

 deeply into the ovary ; 7, 

 ovigerms round ■which the 

 Graafian follicle and tunica 

 granulosa are now formed, 

 and which have iwsssd 

 ■somewhat deeper into the ovary and are surrounded by firm fibrous stroma ; 8, more 

 advanced Graafian follicle with the ovum imbedded in the cells of the proligerous disc ; 

 9, the most advanced follicle containing the ovum, and approaching the surface : li', a 

 follicle from which the o^vum has accidentally escaped ; 10, corpus luteum presenting 

 radiated columns of cellular structure. 



STRUCTURE OF THE OVARY. 



The ovary consists essentially in man, as in all the higher animals, of 

 an ovarian stroma, composed of connective tissue with blood-vessels, 

 nerves, and some muscular fibres, an outer epithelial covering, and the 

 embedded Graafian follicles with the ova. 



The external surface of the ovary is of a whitish colour, and in 

 early life is comparatively smooth and even ; but in later life it becomes 

 more or less uneven and is marked by pits and scars. It is covered by 

 a membrane which, though somewhat different in its minute structure, 

 is originally continuous wdtli the peritoneum. 



The superficial einthelium of the ovary differs from that of the peri- 

 toneum in the neighbourhood in being decidedly prismatic or columnar : 

 and it gives to the surface a dull appearance as compared with tlie 

 shining smoothness of the serous membranes in general. A distinct 

 line of demarcation exists at the base of the ovary, where the two lands 

 of epithelium pass into each other. To this ovarian epithelium, from 

 its relation in early life to the origin of the ova, the name germ-cpiihc- 

 liwn has been given by some authors. 



Below the outer membrane a firm layer of fibrous tissue, permeated 

 by the superficial blood-vessels, encloses all the deeper parts. This has 

 been compared to the dense fibrous covering of the testicle, and thence 

 named tunica albuginea ovarii, but without sufficient reason, for it is 

 not nearly eo strong or distinct. It is in fact no more than a condensed 

 part of the ovarian stroma, and not unfrequently is divisible into 

 goveral subordinate layers. 



