332 



REPRODUCTION 



Whether or not the ovum that escaped from the follicle which 

 was the antecedent of any given corpus luteum was impreg- 

 nated, has an influence upon the growth of that corpus. If the 

 ovum failed of fecundation the corpus luteum will reach its high- 

 est development in about fifteen days, and will then assume 

 the character of cicatricial tissue and be absorbed in a few weeks. 

 If the ovum was fecundated, the corpus luteum will increase in 

 size for some three months, until it may be half the size of the 

 ovary. At labor it has been reduced to a white cicatrix, which 

 probably persists as a small nodule throughout life. The differ- 

 ences between the corpora lutea of menstruation and pregnancy 

 are shown by the following table from Dalton: 



Corpus 

 Luteum of Menstruation. 



Corpus 

 Luteum of Pregnancy. 



At the end of 

 three weeks. 

 One month. 



Two months. 



Four months. 



Six months. 



Nine months. 



Three-quarters of an inch in 

 reddish; convoluted wall pale. 



diameter; central clot 



Smaller; convoluted wall 

 bright yellow; clot still 

 reddish. 



Reduced to the condition 

 of an insignificant cicatrix. 



Absent or unnoticeable. 



Absent. 



Absent. 



Larger; convoluted wall 

 bright yellow; clot still 

 reddish. 



Seven-eights of an inch 

 in diameter; convoluted; wall 

 bright yellow; clot perfectly 

 decolorized. 



Seven-eights of an inch in 

 diameter; clot pale and fibrin- 

 ous; convoluted wall dull 

 yellow. 



Still as large as at the end 

 of second month; clot fibrin- 

 ous; convoluted wall paler. 



Half an inch in diameter; 

 central clot converted into a 

 radiating cicatrix; external 

 wall tolerably thick and con- 

 voluted, but without any 

 bright yellow color. 



