844 THE FEMALE GENITAL TRACT. 



centa. For many years this condition was thought to have been the principal 

 cause of abortion or premature birth, resulting in the death of the foetus, 

 either within the uterus or soon after delivery. 



Although the foetus might have the appearance of being well developed, 

 its death, as a rule, occurred whenever the degeneration in the placenta was 

 observable. In many instances the miscarriage was habitual, taking place at 

 about the same period of pregnancy ; the foetus never being perfectly devel- 

 oped. 



The ten placentae above described were furnished either in a fresh condi- 

 tion or preserved in alcohol. All these placentae were placed in a half per 

 cent, watery solution of chromic acid for hardening. 



Specimens obtained from placentae which had undergone a high degree of 

 degeneration Cases one, three, and eight exhibited with the lower power 

 of the microscope the following appearances : the decidual tissue contained 

 sharply denned patches of a grayish or yellow color with a peculiar luster. 

 These patches were of a uniform structure, with only a slight trace of decidual 

 tissue remaining, and they were built up by irregular, jagged globules closely 

 crowded together, strongly resembling fat in color and in general appearance. 

 Toward the deeidua these morbid spots were in some places distinctly denned, 

 in other places were bounded by tissues, in which the morbid change was of 

 a less marked degree. 



In the villosities the degenerative change is rarely found, but, if found, it 

 is, as a rule, only in the parts in immediate connection with the deeidua. In 

 those rare instances where the degeneration did occur, it was not found to 

 pass beyond the reticular or homogeneous stage that is, it did not lead to 

 the transformation of the myxomatous tissue into globular clusters. 



The decidual portion of the three placentas, which exhibited the highest 

 degree of the homogeneous degeneration, showed also a greater development 

 of fibrous connective tissue than is to be found in the normal placenta of the 

 same age. 



Within the fibrous, and also within the myxomatous basis-substance, 

 but in a lower degree, the oblong decidual elements showed a coarse granula- 

 tion, so as to entirely conceal the central nucleus. The granules resembled 

 fat in their high degree of refractive power. In the villosities, those which 

 had an unchanged myxomatous structure showed the normal amount of 

 blood-vessels and capillaries ; while in those villosities, in which the homo- 

 geneous degeneration was marked, scarcely any trace of blood-vessels was to 

 be found. 



Higher powers of the microscope, five hundred to six hundred, showed a 

 homogeneous change of the basis-substance, with coarsely granular plastids, 

 almost unchanged. A slight formation of connective tissue was observable 

 encircling the villosities, and irregularly scattered between and within them ; 

 in the latter position, however, barely traceable. This tissue showed small 

 plastids with nuclei, also apertures, indicating the caliber of former capil- 

 laries. The greater part of these vessels, had, however, entirely disappeared. 



A power of twelve hundred immersion plainly revealed the nature of the 

 morbid change. The basis-substance was divided into irregular fields of 

 shining appearance; between these fields the bioplasson was unaltered, 

 exhibiting its characteristic, net-like structure. (See Fig. 379. ) 



This reticulum was also traceable within the fields ; here, however, the 

 meshes were larger than those in the [unchanged portions. This net-like 



