MENSTR UA TION. 647 



(3) The third or reparative stage is one of repair, daring which 

 the deeper and unaffected parts of the uterine 'mucous membrane 

 institute constructive processes, which within the short period of 

 from three to four days result in the formation of a new mucosa. 



(4) The fourth or quiescent stage includes the remaining twelve 

 or fourteen days of the menstrual cycle, and represents the qui- 

 escent period preceding the initiative changes marking the begin- 

 ning of the next period. 



Cause of Menstruation. The cause of menstruation is still 

 undetermined. 



Lawson Tait held that menstruation was dependent upon the 

 oviducts, but that ovulation and menstruation were independent 

 functions. 



Johnstone believed that menstruation is regulated by a nerve 

 which passes through the broad ligament. 



Byron Robinson holds that menstruation is due to ganglia 

 located in the walls of the uterus and oviducts, which he terms 

 " automatic menstrual ganglia." He considers it to be independent 

 of ovulation. He calls the ovary the chief central sexual organ 

 of woman, and the uterus and oviducts appendages of the ovary. 



According to this writer (loc. cit.) menstruation is due to a 

 nervous mechanism termed automatic menstrual ganglia, located 

 in the walls of the uterus and oviducts. Its utility is the secre- 

 tion of fluid to float an egg into the uterus. Its design is repro- 

 duction. 



" Among the lower animals menstruation and ovulation are 

 concomitant, but as the scale of life ascends they become separate 

 processes. Man and monkey are probably the only animals with 

 a distinct rhythmical or periodical menstrual discharge independent 

 of ovulation. This process in lower animals is called oestrus or 

 ' rut.' Menstruation is limited to a certain period of life, seed- 

 time and harvest, generally from the fifteenth to the forty-fifth 

 year. It is due to automatic menstrual ganglia, small nerve- 

 ganglia situated in the walls of the uterus and tubes. It is a 

 manifestation of the nervous system. It must be remembered 

 that a nerve-ganglion is a small brain ; it receives sensation and 

 sends out motion ; it assimilates food, and is a trophic center ; 

 it reproduces itself, and controls secretion and vermicular action ; 

 it is a physiological center, and has all the elements of a brain. 

 These little ganglia are situated along the uterus and oviducts 

 passing through a monthly rhythm, rising and sinking between 

 the extremes of functional activity and repose, and corresponding 

 in these states to the menstrual congestion and intermenstrual 

 quietude of the uterus and oviducts. The oviducts at the monthly 

 periods assume peristaltic motion, a vermicular or tortuous action, 

 so that an ovum may be carried to the uterus by their movements. 

 It may be observed that when the ganglia along the oviducts are 



