252 Human Physiology. 



gland-like organ, about an inch and a-half long, oval shaped, 

 placed in the lower part of the abdomen, in the groin, and 

 represented (7) on each side of the uterus, or womb (Fig. 59). In 

 each ovary, from the period of puberty, in a healthy female, there 

 is a constant formation and growth of germs, or ova, which 

 goes on for thirty or forty years. When the first perfect germs 



Fig- 59- UTERUS, OVARIES, FALLOPIAN TUBES, ETC. 



have ripened, one or more, they come to the surface of the 

 ovary, burst from their sacs, sometimes with considerable force, 

 attended by a nervous excitement, a congestion of the blood 

 vessels of ovaries and womb, and, when impregnation does not 

 take place, the freed germ passes into the mouth (12) of the 

 Fallopian tube, through which it passes into the uterus ( i ), from 

 which it passes, with the menstrual evacuation, a secretion from 

 the mucous surfaces of these organs, reddened more or less by 

 some exudation from the congested vessels, through the mouth 

 of the womb (23), into the vagina. This menstrual, or monthly 

 flow, marking the production of germs, and their expulsion 

 when not fecundated by the presence of the masculine element, 

 goes on monthly, from its commencement at the age of puberty, 

 normally at fourteen to sixteen years of age, to the period of 

 the cessation of the menses, or " turn of life," from forty-five to 

 sixty, when no more germs are formed, and the capacity for 

 child-bearing ceases. 



