The Morphological Pathology of 

 the Ovaries as Endocrin Organs 



JAMES E. GOODALL 



MONTBEAL 



The morphological pathology of the ovaries has always been a difficult 

 study. The difficulty seems to arise out of the numerous classifications 

 of ovarian new growths. The types of pathological processes are so nu- 

 merous that no one classification seems to cover all the cases. This diffi- 

 culty has arisen chiefly through an improper knowledge of the develop- 

 ment of the ovary. Authors have described invasions of the ovary by seg- 

 ments of the Wolffian body. Others contend that the Wolffian body is a 

 normal constituent of the human ovary and that many pathological proc- 

 esses bear characters which stamp their origin from the Wolffian body. 

 Other organs have also been described as entering into the construction of 

 the normal ovary. Until quite recently it was almost universally thought, 

 due chiefly to the teachings of Waldeyer, that the germinal epithelium 

 of the ovary did not penetrate farther than the outer cortical third of 

 the ovary. Whatever glandular structures were found within the hilus or 

 medulla of the ovary were thought to be due to the invasion of the ovarian 

 stroma by the tubules of the Wolffian body. The Wolffian body, or meso- 

 nephros, was consequently divided into two portions : that which invaded the 

 ovary was called the genital portion, whereas that outside the boundaries 

 of the ovary was called the urinary portion of the Wolffian body. 



In order to acquire a proper knowledge of the pathology of the ovary 

 it is first necessary to determine the true origin of the parenchyma of 

 the ovary. Accordingly, a short review of the most recent work upon 

 ovarian development will allow of an easy comprehension of the multi- 

 plicity and varied nature of the pathological processes and developmental 

 errors. 



The author has found that the human ovary contains three distinct 

 types of tissue : 



1. The connective tissue of the ovary. 



2. The "interstitial cells' 7 of the ovary. 



3. The oogenetic tissues. 



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