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present at birth, could not have originated from the medullary cords. 
Afterwards it appeared that this idea was not a new one. ScHorr- 
LAENDER already is of the opinion, that most of the Graafian folli- 
cles of infants are eggnest- or Schlauch follicles, that is to say, 
follicles I described before as ball- and cordfollicles. 
I recapitulate: Burner accepts that the Graafian follicles, present 
at birth in man, become mature and that ovulation takes place 
already in infants. On the other hand Herrz and KAppeii never 
saw any trace of ovulation in 200 ovaria of newly-born animals, 
in which they saw however many very large follicles *). I think 
the wisest is to accept (for the present) that the large Graafian follicles 
present at birth, do not develop, but are absorbed. 
According to this idea, the follicles, with an abnormal number of 
eggeells, in adults, would not be cordfollicles, but ballfollicles. And 
these would be important for the origin of plurigravidity. We ought 
to point out besides that several authors talk of ‘“Hauptei’”’ and 
“Nebenei’’. That is to say that in a follicle with more than one eggcell 
one of them were to develop well and the others were to be reduced. 
As rudimentary eggcells were often present in the atypical Graafian 
follicles observed by me, the possibility is not excluded that, owing 
to reduction of a number of eggcells from the atypical follicles, 
normal ones finally originate. 
In a few words I will answer the interesting question whether a 
formation of new eggcells takes place in the medullary cords. I did 
not find anything that points to this fact. I can only say that I 
found in the ovary of a child of 4 months, which did not show 
any pathological deviation, primordial eggs in the germinal epithelium 
and also proliferations of this epithelium in which primordial eggs 
occur. This corroborates WALDEYER’s opinion and that of other 
investigators, that the formation of primary follicles still continues 
after birth, an opinion, which according to CUNNINGHAM and ROBINSON 
is based on observations in pathological cases. 
SUMMARY. 
1. In a probably adult human ovary were found: a. ingrowths 
of the germinal epithelium, which do not contain eggcells (the name 
1) In a series of sections of the ovary of a young porpoise (Phocaena communis) 
I found only primary follicles. Clear medullary cords were absent, neither did I see 
secondary follicles. It is an open question whether 1. probably weakly developed 
medullary cords have been present, which do not give rise to vesicles. shortly 
before or after birth or 2 the follicles formed at birth, have all been reduced I 
did not find traces of that reduction. 
