The Rhythm of Gonadal Function 



with Special Reference to the 



Relations Between Uterus 



and Ovary 



HEEBEKT M. EVANS 



BERKELEY 



I. The Gonadal Function before Puberty 



The Prepubertal Ovary and Its Role in the Determination of the 

 Secondary Sex Characters. It is of great interest to know that before 

 the assumption of sexual activity (i. e., the time of puberty) the female 

 gonad, like the male, has not only attained a considerable development and 

 differentiation but has exerted a specific endocrin function, the function of 

 determining the secondary sex characters. The adult ovary besides furnish- 

 ing ova has also specific endocrin functions, but these are of a more par- 

 ticular nature and concern chiefly changes in behavior (o3strus) and in 

 the structure of the generative apparatus which will insure the fertilization 

 and nourishment of the ovum so that a new organism is assured. We are 

 able to assign some of these functions of the adult ovary to particular tissue 

 components as will be seen from the following account. It is consequently 

 of interest to inquire as to what anatomical elements in the prepubertal 

 gonad are responsible for its endocrin activity in determining the so-called 

 secondary characters of sex. For a long while the structure of the fetal 

 and prepubertal ovary has been interpreted as meaning merely that the 

 gland makes ineffectual efforts to attain its adult role, or, in other words, 

 that abortive attempts at ovulation are continually going on. Newer 

 studies would tend to show that such a method of expression is unfor- 

 tunate ; that before puberty is reached not only are none of the phenomena 

 more immediately connected with ovulation ever observed but that the 

 processes which do take place need not be considered as aborted ovulation. 

 It is a fact that in the prepubertal ovary primordial and other follicles in 

 various degrees of development or degeneration are present in abundance, 

 but that under no circumstances does follicular rupture occur nor are 

 there found those peculiar structures consequent upon ovulation, the cor- 

 pora lutea. The follicles in the prepubertal ovary may attain a consid- 



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