THE FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS 



523 



thin-walled venules. 

 As the follicle ap- 

 proaches maturity 

 these plexuses be- 

 come enormously de- 

 veloped and appar- 

 ently bear an impor- 

 tant relation to the 

 rupture of the fol- 

 licle and the rapid 

 development of the 

 corpus luteum. The 

 veins, which take 

 origin from the ven- 

 ules of these capil- 

 lary plexuses, con- 

 verge toward the 

 medulla, where they 

 form a plexus of 

 large thin-walled 

 vessels, the plexus 

 venosus ovarii or 

 pampiniform plexus, 

 which is embedded 

 in the connective 

 tissue of the medul- 

 la, the mesovarium, 

 and the adjacent 

 portions of the broad 

 ligament. 



FIG. 460. FROM A THICK SECTION 

 OF THE OVARY OF A WOMAN. 



The blood-vessels have been in- 

 jected. A, a, and a', arteries; b, cor- 

 pus luteum, partially organized; c, 

 point where rupture of the follicle 

 occurred; d, tangential section of a 

 follicle; e, corpora lutea which have 

 organized and are already retrogres- 

 sive. (After Clark.) 



y ,-.._, 



