FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 765 



and it is confined to the first temporal convolution on the left side (Wer- 

 nicke). Word-deafness is analogous to the condition already described 

 under the name of word-blindness, and the centre usually is confined to the 

 left side of the cerebrum. It has been suggested by Westphal that this 

 centre may be on the right side of the cerebrum, in left-handed persons. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



ORGANS AND ELEMENTS OF GENERATION. 



General considerations Female organs of generation General arrangement of the female organs The 

 ovaries Graafian follicles The parovarium The uterus The Fallopian tubes Structure of the ovum 

 Discharge of the ovum Passage of ova into the Fallopian tubes Puberty and menstruation Changes 

 in the Graafian follicle after its rupture (corpus luteum) Male organs of generation The testicles 

 Vesiculae seminales Prostate Glands of the urethra Male elements of generation Spermatozoids. 



GENERATION is one of the most important of the animal functions, and 

 as such usually is treated of quite fully in works upon physiology ; but a 

 more or less extended account of this function is also to be found in every 

 complete treatise on ' anatomy and in most works on obstetrics. While the 

 physiological history of the human organism would not be complete without 

 touching upon generation and development, it does not seem desirable to 

 give a very full description of these processes, in which there would neces- 

 sarily be a repetition of what is always to be found in works upon other 

 subjects. 



The question of so-called spontaneous generation in some of the lower 

 animals was formerly much discussed by physiologists. This, however, is now 

 of purely historical interest. As actual knowledge of facts has accumulated, 

 the limits of what was thought to be spontaneous generation have become 

 more and more restricted ; until now it is generally admitted that sponta- 

 neous generation does not exist in the history of animals. The entire ques- 

 tion, therefore, may be dismissed with this simple statement. There are, 

 however, certain distinct forms of generation ; but the only one that has any 

 considerable importance in connection with human physiology is generation 

 of new beings by the union of male and female elements in the fecundation of 

 the ovum, with the development of the fecundated ovum. This is known as 

 sexual generation. The two elements of generation are developed in separate 

 beings, male and female, and these elements are brought together normally 

 in what is known as sexual connection, or copulation. 



FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 



A knowledge of certain points in the anatomy of the female organs of 

 generation is essential to the comprehension of the most important of the 

 processes of reproduction. Following a fruitful intercourse of the sexes, 



50 



