THE OVARIES. 119 



live of their state of preparation for the act; but in .advanced 

 life they diminish much in volume and become hard and dry. 

 Their surface, originally smooth or slightly embossed, is sub- 

 sequently rendered uneven, by repeated acts of conception, 

 leaving on it a number of cicatrices or small stellated fis- 

 sures. 



They are of a light pink colour. Within the peritoneal coat 

 is another, the Tunica Albuginea, of a strong, compact, fibrous 

 texture, like the same coat of the testicle, and sending inwards 

 many processes. 



The structure of the ovarium is not ascertained with entire 

 satisfaction, though the grosser arrangement of it is known. 

 But few females, of such as are presented in our dissecting 

 rooms, have these parts in a state fit for study, owing to age, 

 disease, or excessive sexual indulgence: my best opportunities 

 have been derived from post mortem examinations, in private, 

 of individuals of from fourteen to twenty, where the virgin state 

 had been preserved. When an ovarium of the latter kind can 

 be got, by cutting through the tunica albuginea simply, and then 

 tearing open the organ, it will be found to consist of a spongy 

 tissue, abundantly furnished with blood vessels from the sperm- 

 atic artery and vein. In this spongy tissue are from fifteen to 

 twenty spherical vesicles, (Omda Graafiana,) varying in size 

 from half a line to three lines in diameter; the larger ones are 

 nearer the surface, and, from having caused the absorption of 

 the tunica albuginea, may sometimes be seen through the peri- 

 toneal coat, and give to the surface of the ovarium its em- 

 bossed condition. The vesicles contain a transparent fluid sup- 

 posed to be, or to have within it, the rudiments of the embryo. 

 As the vesicles are evolved they advance from the centre to 

 the circumference. Their parietes are thin, transparent, and 

 have creeping through them minute arterial and venous ramifi- 

 cations.* 



The Organs of Generation in the female are supplied with 

 blood principally from the internal pudic and other branches of 



* In an ovary exhibited to me by Dr. Hopkinson, there were thirty -six ve- 

 sicles. 



