THE RHYTHM OF GONADAL FUNCTION 583 



through various portions of the Fallopian tube. We are able to ascer- 

 tain these facts because of the synchronism of particular events which occur 

 in the ovary and other portions of the reproductive system. This syn- 

 chronism, or parallelism, between the changes of the ovary and those in 

 the uterus and vagina can be seen at a glance in the following table : 



SCHEMATIC OUTLINE OF COORDINATED CHANGES IN OVARY, UTERUS AND 

 VAGINAL SMEAR DURING THE (ESTROUS CYCLE OF THE RAT 



Stage Vaginal Smear Uterus Ovary 



Pro-oestrus Uniform sized, nucleated epi- Uterus toward end Preceding corpora 



thelial cells in great num- of period be- lutea have begun 

 bers, without admixture comes distended to show evi- 

 with leucocytes or other with fluid. dences of fatty 



cells. degeneration. 



CEstrus Cornified cells only, not in Uterus reaches Graafian follicles 



macroscopic abundance. greatest hyper- may undergo 



emia and dis- maturation. 

 tention ; regres- 

 sion. 



Postoestrus Identical with above, and Peculiar vacuolar Maturation ; to- 



macroscopically very condition of epi- ward end of 

 abundant. thelial cells. period ovulatron 



occurs. 



Postovulatory .... During first 6 hours many Young corpora lu- 



polymorphonuclear leuco- tea; eggs in ovi-. 



cytes together with cornified duct, 



cells; then the latter dis- 

 appear and small, nucleated 

 epithelial cells take their 

 place together with the 

 leucocytes. 



Conditions in Man. A. Menstruation and the Endometrial Cycle. 

 Although for a very long time it has been felt that menstruation stood in 

 some definite relation to ovulation, it is only within the last few years 

 that anything like rigorous proof of the necessary connection of the two 

 phenomena has been obtained. The study of menstruation itself, which is 

 by no means complete, would still appear to bear traces of the conceptions 

 of mysticism and folk-lore with which it was invested by primitive 

 people (E. Novak (/)). It is also possible to find in the more serious cur- 

 rent scientific literature attempts to relate the twenty-eighth day recurrence 

 of this phenomenon in women with effects of the moon (Arrhenius, 

 Schatz), or with the old Hippocratic theory of a periodic cleansing or de- 

 toxification of the body as, for instance, in the statement that when certain 

 flowers particularly anemones are held in the hands of a menstruating 

 woman they rapidly fade out and die, due to the presence of a toxin in the 



