OVARY (FUNCTIONS). 



the tubes before coitus was permitted, has 

 usually amounted to the sum of the ova dis- 

 charged. If one side of the uterus be tied, 

 the ova found in that cornu will not have 

 been impregnated, but those on the free side 

 will be developed. The number of ruptured 

 follicles in each ovary will agree with the 

 number of ova found in the corresponding 

 tubes; but no difference will be perceptible 

 between those on the impregnated and those 

 on the unimpregnated side of the uterus. The 

 contact, therefore, of the seminal fluid with the 

 ovary has nothing to do with the discharge of 

 the ova, or with the formation of a " corpus 

 luteum." The only question that can here 

 have place is, whether the excitement of the 

 coitus, or the contact of the seminal fluid 

 with the inner surface of the vagina and 

 uterus, has any influence in precipitating the 

 discharge of ova from the ovary when they 

 are ripe for impregnation. This, however, is, 

 in the present state of our knowledge, an un- 

 settled point. By all the earlier observers 

 down to Barry, it was assumed that the 

 coitus was the sole determining cause of the 

 ovipont. By most physiologists since that 

 time the coitus has been regarded as having 

 nothing to do with the discharge of the ova, 

 or only a limited power has been ceded to it, 

 as in the view of Coste just detailed. 



So far as numerical amount of recorded 

 observation goes, it may be asserted that the 

 spontaneity of the act of emission of ova, inde- 

 pendent of sexual intercourse, has been more 

 fully and satisfactorily proved in Man even 

 than in animals. In the works and essays 

 upon this subject, to which reference is given 

 in the preceding page, a large amount of evi- 

 dence will be found ; but since some proofs 

 of this fact have been already given, and since 

 it is proposed again to return to the subject in 

 considering the question of menstruation in 

 its relation to ovulation, it will not be ne- 

 cessarv to pursue the subject further here. 

 (See page 666.) 



In tracing the process of ovulation, it will 

 have been observed that the ovarian follicle 

 passes through a series of changes, so gradu- 

 ally progressive and of such a definite cha- 

 racter, that the knowledge of these may be 

 turned to great account in any investigations 

 relating to the ovipont ; for, next to the dis- 

 covery of the ovum itself, whether in the 

 ovary, Fallopian tube, or uterus, the condition 

 of the capsule, from which it is about to be 

 or has been already discharged, will afford the 

 best evidence as to its probable locality and 

 condition, even should the ovum not be found. 

 Doubtless, one of the greatest impediments 

 which has been encountered in investigations 

 of this class arises from the extreme diffi- 

 culty, and often the impossibility, of finding 

 the ovum in many situations on account of 

 its minute size. Hence, in the absence of 

 this demonstrative evidence, which cannot 

 always be obtained, any other, which, though 

 only inferential, may be made available for a 

 like purpose, is of great value. Wanting the 

 ovum, therefore, the state of the ovicapsule 



569 



may be made, in part at least, to supply the evi- 

 dence which is deficient. Now it has been 

 shown that, whatever affects the ovum, to de- 

 termine its development or the converse affects 

 in a like degree the follicle from which it had 

 been discharged, not on account of any appa- 

 rent sympathy between the ovum and the fol- 

 licle which once contained it, but from the 

 whole generative track being more or less 

 brought under the power of one common sti- 

 mulus, felt alike by all the parts that are em- 

 ployed for the nutrition and protection of the 

 ovum. It will be desirable, therefore, now to 

 determine what evidence the condition of the 

 ovarian follicle affords, first, as to the previous 

 escape of an ovum, and secondly as to the 

 probability or certainty of that ovum having 

 been impregnated or otherwise. But since it 

 is desirable to fix the value of certain terms 

 which are commonly employed to designate 

 particular states of the follicle, it will be need- 

 ful, first, to determine, 



What is a corpus luteum ? 



This term, as Raciborski has observed, is 

 indicative of the infancy of science. It be- 

 longs to a period when anatomists were in 

 the habit of designating by the word body or 

 corpus any part of the animal economy 

 whose nature or relation with other parts they 

 did not comprehend, adding to this some dis- 

 tinctive title drawn from the general appear- 

 ance of the part. Hence the terms corpus 

 striatum, corpus cal/osum, corpus luteum. It 

 is an unfortunate circumstance that such a 

 term was ever applied to the Graafian follicle, 

 and the more so since it is often employed 

 without any definite meaning. 



The Graafian follicle in its progress to- 

 wards full development, and previous to its 

 rupture, has been described as becoming yel- 

 low. This fact has been long known. It is 

 stated by Home, Baer, Valentin, Wagner, 

 and Bischoff. The cause of the yellow colour 

 has been fully explained. After impregnation 

 this yellow colour becomes still more conspi- 

 cuous on account of the greater thickness 

 of the ovisac or inner coat of the follicle, 

 which is the seat of the change producing 

 this colour. From the greater distinctness, 

 larger size, longer duration, and other pecu- 

 liarities of the follicle after impregnation, an 

 artificial distinction has been made between 

 the follicle in this state, and all other forms 

 of it, in which it exhibits the yellow colour. 

 The former are arbitrarily called " true," and 

 the latter " false " corpora lutea. But there 

 is as little reason for the use of the last term, 

 as there would be for denominating a child a 

 false man; for that which is commonly 

 designated the "true" corpus luteum is the 

 follicle in its largest condition of growth, as 

 it appears after impregnation ; whilst in all 

 other conditions, when it has not been stimu- 

 lated to full growth by impregnation, and 

 whether before or after rupture, it has been 

 called a "false" corjjus luteum so long as it 

 possesses the yellow colour. This distinction, 

 therefore, as far as regards the terms em- 

 ployed, is not only unscientific and arbitrary, 



