670 THE OVARIES. 



small pea, having thin, transparent walls, and enclosing a 

 fluid, either colorless or yellow. This fluid is said to be 

 albuminous, and to contain microscopic granules, and, at 

 the least, one ovum. The walls of the vesicle are observed 

 to consist of two coats, an external or vascular, regarded 

 as simply the thickening of the surrounding stroma, and 

 an internal coat, transparent, structureless, and lined with 

 an epithelium, constituting the true ovisac. 



The ovum,) according to the microscope, is about the 

 1-120 of an inch in diameter, and is siirrounded by a 

 transparent membrane, containing the yolk, which seems 

 to consist of granules or cells, and fat globules. In the 

 yolk is also seen the germinal vesicle of PurJcinje. This 

 vesicle contains a transparent fluid, and has also within it 

 the germinal spot of Wagner, called macula germinativa, 

 about the 1-200 or 1-300 of a line in diameter. The 

 granules of the ovum are arranged into a membraniform 

 structure called membrana granulosa. 



The corpus luteum is a yellowish or brownish spongy 

 tissue, containing a small cavity, and is regarded as the 

 remains of the ruptured Graafiari vesicle after the escape 

 of the ovum at impregnation. This cavity presents a 

 puckered membrane lining it, the remains of the ovisac. 

 In the recent state, the opening into this sac is distinct, 

 but after parturition it becomes closed, leaving nothing but 

 a cicatrix to indicate its position. But in time the cicatrix 

 is known to be effaced, and even in a girl of only five years 

 a corpus luteum has been seen, so that the absence of the 

 cicatrices cannot be regarded as positive proof of virginity, 

 nor the presence of corpora lutea as always indicating the 

 state of impregnation. 



The blood-vessels of the ovaries are the same as those 

 iupplying the testes the spermatic. 



Function. The use of the ovaries seems to be to prepare 

 the germ to be fecundated by the male semen. They are 

 regarded as essential in the function of reproduction, since 

 their extirpation is always followed by sterility. 



