CHAPTER XIX 



THE INTERNAL SECRETIONS OF THE GENERATIVE 

 ORGANS IN THE FEMALE 



The Interstitial Cells of the Ovary 



The ovary contains — besides the Graafian follicles with their ova, follicular 

 epithelium and liquor folliculi and the corpora lutea — a highly vascular 

 stroma formed of a peculiar connective tissue, firm in texture and containing 





Fig. 93. — Section of the wall of a Graafian follicle of the rabbit, from which the ovum 

 and follicular epithelium have just been discharged. The cavity is occupied by a 

 blood-clot of which part of the fibrin-network is shown in the photograph. Notice 

 the large cells in the wall of the follicle (theca) from which the luteal cells become 

 developed. Magnified 200 diameters. 



numerous spindle-shaped cells. In some animals it is possible to discover 

 in the stroma groups of cells of a different appearance from that of the 

 ordinary stroma cells. These have been named the interstitial cells of 

 the ovary, and have been thought to be analogous to the interstitial cells 

 of the testicle. But the interstitial cells of the ovary do not form so 

 distinct a tissue as those found in the testicle ; they are, moreover, said to be 

 destroyed by the X-rays, whereas those of the testicle are not so affected : 

 they appear therefore not to be of identical nature. As the Graafian follicles 

 mature, their wall (theca) is found to contain peculiar large epithelium-like 

 cells (fig. 93) (theca cells), derived from the stroma and not improbably 



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