698 THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS OF THE FEMALE. 



even in the foetus. The follicles dilate from the accumulation of fluid 

 within them; the ovum is destroyed, the epithelium flattened. The con- 

 tents are usually serous and colorless, but may be viscid, turbid, purulent, 



FIG. 454. FOLLICULAR CYSTS OF THE OVARY. 

 These cysts are associated with chronic inflammation. At the right an old corpus luteum is visible. 



or variously colored, red, yellow, or brown. The ovary may be crowded 

 with numerous cysts of moderate size, whose adjacent walls may coalesce 

 and atrophy, forming communications between them.' 



FIG. 455. DERMOID CYST OF THE OTARY. 

 One of the cysts contains a mass of hair and sebaceous material. 



A variety of this type of cyst is formed by the dilatation of a corpus 

 luteum either with or without the hyperplasia of the wall. 



1 t>. Kahlden, Ziegler's Beitr., Bd. xxvii., p. 1, 1900, bibliography. 



