THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS. 



635 



gan in the act of copulation, and for the subsequent discharge of the 

 foetus. 



a. The Ovaries. The ovaries are two oval compressed bodies, 



FIG. 425. View of a section of the ovary of the cat. 1, outer covering and free border of the 

 ovary; 1', attached border; Si, the ovarian stroma, presenting a fibrous and vascular structure; 3, 

 granular. substance lying external to the fibrous stroma; 4, blood vessels; 5, ovigerms in their earli- 

 est stages occupying a part of the granular layer near the surface; 6, ovigerms which have begun 

 to enlarge and to pass more deeply into the ovary; 7, ovigerms round which the Graafian follicle 

 and tunica granulosa are now formed, and which have passed somewhat deeper into the ovary and 

 are surrounded by the fibrous stroma; 8. more advanced Graafian follicle with the ovum imbedded 

 in the layer of the cells constituting the proligerous disc; 9. the most advanced follicle containing 

 the ovum, etc. ; 9', a follicle from which the ovum has accidentally escaped; 10, corpus luteum. 6/1. 

 (Schron.) 



situated in the cavity of the pelvis, one on each side, enclosed in the 

 folds of the broad ligament. Each ovary measures about an inch and a 



* <ff*. **j 



FIG. 426. Section of the ovary of a cat. A, germinal epithelium ; B, immature Graafian follicle ; 

 C, stroma of ovary; D, vitelline membrane containing the ovum; E, Graafian follicle showing lining 

 cells; F, follicle from which the ovum has fallen out. (V. D. Harris.) 



half in length, three-quarters of an inch in width, and nearly half an 

 inch in thickness, and is attached to the uterus by a narrow fibrous cord 



