644 FREDERICK S. HAMMETT 



i 



having thus been directed to this portion of the ovary, Fraenkel (a) in 

 1903, and later, Ferroni claimed that the mammary hyperplasia of preg- 

 nancy is attributable to the activities of the corpus luteum. On the basis 

 of the clinical evidence already presented, and further extended consider- 

 ations of Halban (a) (1900), this opinion could hardly be substantiated. 

 Although Ancel and Bouin found that the destruction of the corpora lutea 

 in pregnant rabbits arrested mammary development, and the experiments 

 of O'Donoghue (,)(&) (c) indicated that this tissue is important in mam- 

 mary hyperplasia, yet the carefully worked out investigations of Lane- 

 Clay pon and Starling (which have been fully confirmed by Foa and by 

 Biedl and Konigstein) leave scarcely a doubt that the corpus luteum is not 

 the main factor in the growth of the mammary glands at pregnancy. As 

 regards milk secretion, the evidence presented by Schafer and MacKenzie, 

 by Ott and Scott (&), by MacKenzie, seems to demonstrate some galacta- 

 gogic power of the corpus luteum, which, however, was not shown either in 

 the experiments of Lane-Claypon and Starling or Fellner. Hence, the 

 part played by the corpus luteum in the various growth periods of the 

 mammary glands and the development of their secretory function is at the 

 present time a matter for further investigation. 



The Interstitial Gland of the Ovary and 

 Mammary Activity 



The functions of the epithelioid cells in the interstitial tissue of the 

 ovary were considered as being local and trophic until Regaud and Poli- 

 card (1901) expressed the opinion that a secretory function could be 

 attributed to them. Bouin (1902) supported this idea on the basis of 

 the work of his pupil Limon, who had shown the derivation of this cell 

 complex from the theca interna folliculi. These findings and conclusions 

 were confirmed by Cohn (&)(&) (1903, 1909) and extended by Lane- 

 Claypon (1905). Fraenkel (&), however, has denied any physiological 

 function to this tissue in human adult females. In a study of the histology 

 of this tissue during pregnancy, Wallart and Seitz found the structures to 

 be analogous to those in other animals. Nevertheless, Seitz would not 

 admit that they possess an internal secretory function. Since, however, the 

 morphological changes taking place in this cell complex show a marked 

 development of activity before puberty and menstruation, as well as during 

 pregnancy, which changes are accompanied by changes in mammary activ- 

 ity, it is not beside the mark at least to consider the possibility that the 

 interstitial gland of the ovary has an influence upon the various and 

 periodic changes in the mammse. 



