688 THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS OF THE FEMALE. 



structures known as fibrous moles. When to the fibrous change mucous 

 degeneration is added the so-called hydatid moles are formed (Figs. 441 

 and 442). ' 



FIG. 442. HYDATID MOLE. 

 Section of a small portion showing mucous and slightly fibrous tissue covered with a layer of epithelial cells. 



Cysts of the placenta are of occasional occurrence ; their origin is in 

 most cases obscure. 8 



The Ovaries. 



Malformations. 



One or both ovaries may be absent, the other organs of generation being also absent 

 or undeveloped ; or they may be only partially developed. Absence or arrest of devel- 

 opment of one ovary occasionally occurs in otherwise well-formed individuals, and is 

 sometimes accompanied by a low position of the kidney on the same side. The ovaries 

 may pass into the inguinal canal or into the labia majora, and remain fixed there 

 through life. Less frequently they are found in the crural canal or the foramen ovale. 



Changes in Size and Position. 



The ovaries may become larger than normal by chronic inflammation, by the 

 formation of cysts and tumors. They may become atrophied in old age, the Graafian 

 follicles disappearing and the organ shrivelling into a small, irregular, fibrous body. 

 Atrophy may be produced by ascites, by chronic inflammation, or from unknown 

 causes. As the result of the maturing and rupture of the Graafiau follicles, with and 

 without pregnancy, the surface of the ovary, which before puberty is smooth, may 

 become roughened by irregular cicatricial depressions. 



'Consult Marchand, Zeits. f. Geburtsh. u. Gynak., Bd. xxxii., p. 405; also Fraen- 

 kel, Arch. f. Gynak., Bd. xlix. 



" 2 See AJilfeldt, Arch, fur Gynakologie, Bd. ii., p. 397. Fenomenodes. ibid., Bd. xv., 

 p. 343. Hofmeier, "Die menschliche Placenta," 1890. 



