592 OF REPRODUCTION. 



which are still so minute, that in the Ox (according to Dr. Barry's computa- 

 tion) a cubic inch would contain 200 millions of them. The greatest advance 

 is seen in those which are situated nearest the surface of the Ovarium ; and 

 in these the Graafian follicle with its two coats, may be distinctly traced. It is 

 curious that the outer wall (which is itself a part of the condensed stroma of 

 the ovarium), should contain an immense number of minute ovisacs ; so that 

 this, in the adult animal, is the most convenient situation in which to view 

 them: these ovisacs have been termed by Dr. Barry " parasitic ovisacs." In 

 those animals whose aptitude for conception is periodical, the development of 

 the Ova to such a degree that they become prepared for fecundation, is peri- 

 odical also. This development becomes evident, when the parts are examined 

 in an animal which is " in heat," by the projection of the Graafian follicles 

 from the surface ; and it consists not merely in an increase of size, but in cer- 

 tain internal changes presently to be described. 



741. In the Human female, the period of Puberty, or of commencing apti- 

 tude for procreation, is usually between the 13th and the 16th year: it is 

 earlier in warm climates than in cold,* and in densely-populated manufac- 

 turing towns, than in thinly-peopled agricultural districts. The mental and 

 bodily habits of the individual have also a considerable influence upon the 

 time of its occurrence ; girls brought up in the midst of luxury or sensual 

 indulgence undergoing this change earlier than those reared in hardihood and 

 self-denial. The changes in which Puberty consists, are for the most part 

 connected with the Reproductive system. The external and internal organs 

 of generation undergo a considerable increase of size ; the mammary glands 

 enlarge ; and a deposition of fat takes place in the mammae and on the pubes, 

 as well as over the whole surface of the body, giving to the person that 



[* It has been stated, by almost all physiological writers, that women reach maturity, 

 and that menstruation commences much earlier in hot climates, particularly between 

 the tropics, than in temperate and very cold countries. Haller states that in the warm 

 regions of Asia, the catamenia appear from the 8th to the 10th year; and in Switzerland, 

 Britain, and other temperate regions, at the age of 12 or 13, and later the farther we 

 ascend towards the north. The same view has been held by nearly all subsequent 

 writers on the subject, and they infer that animals, like plants, reach maturity sooner in 

 hot than in cold climates. Dewees says that menstruation occurs later in our northern 

 than in our southern states. From many elaborate and interesting papers which have 

 been published within a few years, especially from those of Mr. Roberton of Manchester, 

 it would seem that the natural period of puberty in women occurs in a much more 

 extended range of ages, and is much more equally distributed through that range than 

 others have alleged, and that, in other countries, the parallel between plants and fruits 

 does not hold good. 



At Gottingen,0siander ascertained the ages at which 137 women began to menstruate. 

 In 21 of these the catamenia appeared at 14; in 32 at 15; in 24 at 16; 9 at 12; and 1 

 not before the 24th year. The Indian girls in Canada, and in our north-western states 

 and territories, begin to menstruate frequently at 12, 13 and 14. From the statement of 

 Baron Humboldt, the same is equally true of the Kornacs, and the tribes of northern 

 Asia, where girls of 10 years are sometimes found mothers. The notion that women in 

 Lapland do not menstruate till 20, and then only during summer, is founded on a mistake 

 in Linnaeus's Flora Lapponica. Tooke states that the Sclavonian, or native Russians, 

 reach puberty at an early age; and Dr. Robert Lee, who was in the Crimea, and all the 

 Russian provinces along the Black Sea, and in the Ukraine, and whose opportunities of 

 observation were extensive, says that his conviction is, that over the whole south of 

 Russia the period of puberty is the same as in Great Britain ; and that women cease to 

 bear children at the same age. The same would appear to hold good in Java, and in all 

 the islands of the Indian Archipelago, and in Sierra Leone; and the difference said to 

 exist in Arabia in this respect is due to the early marriages, and universal licentiousness 

 and depravity of morals in that country. It would appear from observations made in 

 the West India Islands, that menstruation occurs there about the same period, and that 

 the alleged difference in this respect between the negress and the white female does not 

 exist. M. C.] 



