CORPUS LUTEUM. 755 



that this yellow matter is deposited outside both the membranes of the follicle ; 

 Montgomery regards it as placed between the layers ; while Kolliker considers it 

 as a thickening of the inner layer of the outer coat of the follicle. The exudation 

 is at first of a dark brown or brownish-red color, but it soon becomes paler, and 

 its consistence more dense. 



For every follicle in the ovary from which an ovum is discharged, a corpus 

 luteuin will be found. But the characters it exhibits, and the changes produced 

 in it, will be determined by the circumstance of the ovum being impregnated 

 or not. 



Although there is little doubt of corpora lutea existing in the ovaries after the 

 escape of ova, independent of coitus, or impregnation, it appears that the corpus 

 luteum of pregnancy (true corpora lutea) possesses characters by which it may be 

 distinguished from one formed in a follicle, from which an ovum has been dis- 

 charged without subsequent impregnation (false corpora lutea). 



The true corpora lutea are of large size, often as large as a mulberry ; of a 

 rounded form, and project from the surface of the ovary, the summit of the pro- 

 jection presenting a triangular depression or cicatrix, where the peritoneum 

 appears to have been torn. They contain a small cavity in their centre during the 

 early period of their formation, which becomes contracted, and exhibits a stellate 

 cicatrix during the latter stages of pregnancy. Its vascularity, lobulated or 

 puckered appearance, its firm consistence, and yellow color, are also characteristic 

 marks. 



False corpora lutea are of small size, do not project from the surface of the 

 ovary, are angular in form, seldom present any cicatrix, contain no cavity in their 

 centre ; the material composing it is not lobulated, its consistence is usually soft, 

 often resembling coagulated blood ; the yellow matter exists in the form of a very 

 thin layer, or, more commonly, is entirely wanting. False corpora lutea most 

 frequently result from the effusion of serum or blood into the cavities of the 

 Graafian vesicles, which subsequently undergo various changes, and is ultimately 

 removed. Dr. Lee states, that in the false corpora lutea the yellow substance is 

 contained within, or attached to, the inner surface of the Graafian vesicle, and 

 does not surround it, as is the case in the true corpora lutea. 



In the foetus, the ovaries are situated, like the testes, in the lumbar region, near 

 the kidneys. They may be distinguished from those bodies at an early period by 

 their elongated and flattened form, and by their position, which is at first oblique, 

 and then nearly transverse. They gradually descend into the pelvis. 



The Ligament of the Ovary is a rounded cord, which extends from each superior 

 angle of the uterus to the inner extremity of the ovary ; it consists of fibrous 

 tissue, and a few muscular fibres derived from the uterus. 



The Round Ligaments are two rounded cords, between four and five inches in 

 length, situated between the layers of 'the broad ligament, in front of and below 

 the Fallopian tube. Commencing on each side at the superior angle of the uterus, 

 each ligament passes forwards and outwards through the internal abdominal ring, 

 along the inguinal canal to the labia majora, in which it becomes lost. Each liga- 

 ment consists of areolar tissue, vessels, and nerves, besides a dense bundle of fibrous 

 tissue, and muscular fibres prolonged from the uterus, inclosed in a duplicature of 

 peritoneum, which, in the foetus, is prolonged in the form of a tubular process for 

 a short distance into the inguinal canal ; this process is called the canal of Nuck. 

 It is generally obliterated in the adult, but sometimes remains pervious even in 

 advanced life. It is analogous to the peritoneal pouch which accompanies the 

 descent of the testes. 



Vessels and Nerves. The arteries of the ovaries and Fallopian tubes are the 

 ovarian from the aorta. They anastomose with the termination of the uterine 

 arteries, and enter the attached border of the ovary. The veins follow the course 

 of the arteries ; they form a plexus near the ovary, the pampiniform plexus. 



The nerves are derived from the spermatic plexus, the Fallopian tube receiving a 

 branch from one of the uterine nerves. 



