208 DR. JAMES FOULIS. 



Stroma closely embraces the protoplasm of the ovum, and in 

 almost every case we find fusiform connective tissue cor- 

 puscles (ft, n) in the wall of the mesh lying in close contact 

 with and indenting the yelk of the young ovum. Wherever 

 we examine the primordial follicles, we see such fusiform 

 corpuscles of the, stroma lying in contact with and indenting 

 the yelk of the contained ova. I called attention to the 

 circumstance that among the germ epithelial corpuscles on 

 the surface of the ovary primordial ova were found, having 

 in contact with their protoplasm small fusiform corpuscles, 

 which in some instances could be traced growing as offshoots 

 from delicate bundles of similar bodies which formed part of 

 the ovarian stroma. 



(e.) The Development of the Memhrana Granulosa. — The 

 stroma of the human foetal ovary is remarkable for the great 

 number of connective tissue corpuscles it contains. Wherever 

 we examine the stroma and its processes in all parts of the 

 ovary, we find in it well-formed connective tissue corpuscles. 

 In the middle parts of the ovary, where the stroma is well 

 developed, the connective tissue corpuscles show very dis- 

 tinctly a central oval nucleus with nucleolus. Around the 

 nucleus is a small quantity of protoplasm, drawn out at 

 either end in a fusiform manner. Beside these we see naked 

 nuclei and many small round bodies ; in these latter the 

 nucleus is in a state of division into two or more parts. 

 These small round bodies appear to be swollen-out connective 

 tissue corpuscles. In a well-formed connective tissue cor- 

 puscle the nucleus is comparable to the germinal vesicle of 

 the ovum, and like it, at a certain stage of its development, 

 it shows a sharply defined double contoured wall. In all 

 parts of the ovary we find the connective tissue corpuscles 

 dividing. 



In various parts of the stroma we find delicate fibres 

 developing into connective tissue corpuscles. The central 

 part of such fibres becomes swollen ont, and in this swollen 

 out part a distinct oval nucleus appears ; sometimes these 

 fibres are direct prolongations of the protoplasm surrounding 

 the nuclei of well-formed connective tissue corpuscles. The 

 nucleus of a connective tissue corpuscle at first often appears 

 as a solid or semisolid body, but it may become distinctly 

 vesicular, like the nucleus or germinal vesicle of the ovum. 



It will be observed that, in my description of the germ 

 epithelium and of the development of the ova, I have 

 avoided the use of the word cell, and substituted the term 

 corpuscle, and my reason for not using the term cell in con- 

 nection with the germ epithetial corpuscles is, that the germ 



