THE OVARIES. 271, 



the ovaries and those lining the Fallopian tubes, except that 

 the latter are provided with cilia. 1 



Most anatomists describe a proper fibrous membrane in- 

 vesting the ovaries, which they call the tunica albuginea, and 

 which is compared to the fibrous covering of the testes. 

 This, however, is not a proper term. Sappey denies the ex- 

 istence of a tunica albuginea ; a and, indeed, in the sense in 

 which it was formerly described, such a membrane cannot be 

 demonstrated. On making a section of the ovary, it is readily 

 seen by the naked eye that the organ is composed of two dis- 

 tinct structures ; a cortical substance, formerly called the tu- 

 nica albuginea, which is about ^ of an inch in thickness, and 

 a medullary substance, containing a large number of blood- 

 vessels. The cortical substance alone contains the Graafian 

 follicles. The 'external layer of this may be a little denser 

 than the deeper portion, but there is no distinct fibrous mem- 

 brane. 



The structure of the cortical substance of the ovary is very 

 simple. It consists of connective tissue in several layers, the 

 fibres of which are continuous with the looser fibres of the 

 medullary portion. In the substance of this layer, are em- 

 bedded the ova, enclosed in the sacs, called Graafian follicles. 

 This layer contains a few blood-vessels, coming from the me- 

 dullary portion, which surround the follicles. 



The medullary portion is exceedingly vascular, and is 

 composed of numerous small bands, or trabeculse of connec- 



1 It appears that Koster was the first to give an account, in 1868, of the true 

 structure of the epithelium on the surface of the ovaries. Waldeyer, according 

 to a late review of recent works on the ovary and ovum, is said to have made 

 this discovery simultaneously with Koster. (CLAPAREDE, L'ovaire et Vceuf. Re- 

 vue des cours sdentifiques, Paris, 1870, tome vii., p. 662.) In the list of works 

 given in this review by Claparede, the date of Roster's article is 1868 ; and Wal- 

 deyer's researches were published in 1870. We have not been able to consult 

 the original paper by Koster, published in Dutch. Waldeyer gives a very clear 

 description of the epithelium, in his article contributed to Strieker's "Histology." 

 (WALDEYER, in STRICKER, Manual of Human and Comparative Histology^ The 

 New Sydenham Society, London, 1872, vol. ii., p. 166.) 



2 SAPPEY, Traite d>anatomie, Paris, 1874, tome iv., p. 688. 



148 



