198* 



HUMAN ANATOMY. 



bundles that extend in all directions (chiefly, however, obliquely vertical to the 



Immediate y beneath the germinal 



,t in different planes. Immediately i eneain ie ger 



e t , nun the surface, the strong-elements are disposed with greater reg- 



u v 1 -n a compact superficial stratum, the tumca albugtnea. Embedded 

 wulun the sL lie tlTmost characteristic components of the 1 cor^ the ^-^ 



m follicles. "These are seen in different stages of development 

 are small, inconspicuous, and immature, in the human ovary being much 

 fewer nd less prominent than in many other mammals. Corresponding with their 

 stages of development the egg-sacs may be divided mtofinmary, grou^ng, and ma- 

 In general, the youngest lie nearest the surface, the more advanced 



deeper and towards the 



FIG. 1686. medulla, while those ap- 



proaching maturity ap- 

 pear as huge vesicles 



"* -"'.-. 



I'.: : VMM) 





that occupy not only 

 the entire thickness of 

 the cortex, but often 

 produce marked eleva- 

 tion of the free surface. 

 The medulla, the 

 vascular zone of the 

 ovary, consists of loosely 

 disposed bundles of 

 fibro-elastic tissue sup- 

 porting the blood-ves- 

 sels, lymphatics, and 

 nerves. In the mature 

 organ, with the excep- 

 tion of the encroaching 

 ripening Graafian folli- 

 cles, egg-sacs are not 

 found within the me- 

 dulla. The larger ves- 

 sels are accompanied by 

 bundles of involuntary 

 muscle prolonged from 

 the utero-ovarian ligament through the mesovarium and the hilum into the medulla. 

 The veins are particularly large and appear in sections as huge blood-spaces of irregu- 

 lar outline in consequence of their tortuosity and plexiform arrangement. 



Follicles and Ova. The immature primary follicles (folliculi oophori primarii) are micro- 

 scopic in size (from .o4-.e>6 mm. in diameter) and vary greatly in number, the estimate for the 

 \oung adults being placed at approximately 35,000 (Bonnet). Each follicle 

 I!v situated \oiing ,- cl r (ovulum) surrounded by a single layer of flat- 

 tened epithelium or mantle cells (Fig. 1685). Immediately outside the latter lies the stroma, 

 H h the \oun- egg-sacs are lodged. The primary ova are approximately 



spherical and measure (ton mm. in diameter in ordinary sections, but a third more in 



h imshrimkeu condition , Nageli. Th.-v possess a finely granular cytoplasm, a centrally 



placet! urn. in diameter, and a micleolus. The primary ova may 



m early infancy to advanced age, practically unchanged, until 



'ier atrophy, as do most of them, or further growth leading, under 'favorable 



to the development ol the mature sexual cell, of the thousands of primary eggs 



:b m. only comparatively few attain perfection. Sooner 



or later, but at some u m.-. the primary follicles enclosing ova destined for complete 



ler upon a period of active growth, the earliest indication of which is the con- 



Section of medulla of ovnrv, showing numerous blood- 

 vcMels and fibro-muscular stroma. X 75- 



Is of tin- run-sac inio ,, single layer of cuboid epithelium. 



e, the^r0a>i' v /o//iy/are distinguished by rapid prolifera- 



\. MUCh results in the production of a stratified follicular epithe- 



ovum outside thes,- polv K onal elements the stroma becomes con- 



wue envelope or thtca (theca folliculi). Increasing in thickness, the 



Utter is subsequently dlfiratteed into two layers, an outer (tunica externa ), consisting of con- 



