THE FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 251 



The placenta is divided into a uterine and foetal portion. 

 The former consists of cells irregular in shape, containing one 

 or several nuclei, and at times one or more nucleoli. These 

 cells are separated by an intercellular substance, either hyaline, 

 granular, or fibrous in nature. Fusiform cells, in which a rod- 

 shaped nucleus is seen, are also found, and are thought to in- 

 dicate the presence of smooth muscular elements. The tufts 

 upon the surface of the uterine placenta, which divide and sub- 

 divide, pass quite deeply into the foetal placenta, yet no direct 

 transformation of them into the foetal tissue can be demon- 

 strated ; they appear to terminate in fibrillated tissue, which 

 contains none of the cellular elements of the uterine placenta. 



The blood-vessels of the uterine placenta are arteries and 

 veins, with no intermediary capillary system ; they communi- 

 cate by means of sinuous spaces, limited by placental tissue 

 only. These spaces are said to possess a delicate limiting wall ; 

 this statement, however, has not been confirmed. 



The foetal placenta is developed from the chorion, the villi 

 or tufts of which growing into the uterine follicles are covered 

 by a columnar epithelium. The blood-vessels in the villi do 

 not lie directly in contact with the wall of the villus, but are 

 separated from it by a perivascular space. Besides a direct 

 communication of the arteries and veins, there is also a capil- 

 lary system present in the villi. Connective tissue accompa- 

 nies the vessels into the villi from the chorion. The variety of 

 connective tissue here met with is the mucoid, consisting of 

 round, spindle, and stellate-shaped cells, with a structureless 

 intercellular substance. There is a direct transformation of 

 this mucoid connective tissue into the connective tissue of the 

 chorion. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



BISCIIOFF. Beitr. zur Lebre v. d. menschl. EihtLllen. 1834. 



VALENTIN, in Muller's Arch., p. 526. 1838. 



GOODSIR. Anat. and Path. Researches. Edinburgh, 1845. 



KOBELT. Der Nebeneierstock des Weibes. Heidelberg, 1847. 



STEINHN. Ueber d. Entw. d. Graaf. Foil. u. Eier d. Saugeth., Mittheil. d. ZU- 



richer naturf. Gesellsch. 1847. 

 ROBIN. Arch, gener. de med. Vol. XVII., p. 258 and 405. 1848. And Vol. 



XVIII., p. 257. Also Gaz. med. No. 50. 1855. 

 BAINEY, in Phil. Trans., II. 1850. 



