224 



NORMAL HISTOLOGY. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS. 

 THE OVARY. 



THE ovary is attached to the posterior surface of the broad liga- 

 ment along its shorter straight border, the sides and convex edge of 

 its flattened oval mass being invested by the serous covering contin- 

 uous with the peritoneum of the adjacent surfaces. The serous 

 membrane reflected over the organ is modified both in appearance 

 and in structure, since the usual shining smoothness of its surface 

 is replaced by dulness, and the flat endothelial plates are supplanted 



FIG. 265. 



Section of ovary of cat : C, cortex containing peripheral zone of Graafian 

 follicles (g) in various stages of development ; c, well-advanced follicle ex- 

 hibiting ovum (o), discus proligerus (</), and membrana granulosa (m) ; 

 <?, c", other large follicles, from which ova are absent ; h, peripheral section 

 of large follicle which membrana granulosa seemingly fills ; s, ovarian 

 stroma ; /, corpus luteum ; M, medulla containing many vascular channels (b). 



by the low columnar cells which constitute the germinal epithelium. 

 The transition of the latter into the usual peritoneal covering is indi- 

 cated by a distinct demarcation around the attachment of the ovary. 

 The ovary is divided into two parts, the cortex and the medulla, 

 the boundaries of which are somewhat conventional and by no means 

 sharply defined. The cortex includes the peripheral zone, contain- 

 ing the Graafian follicles and the ova, and occupies approximately 

 the outer third of the organ, while the medulla embraces the re- 



