OVARY (ABNORMAL ANATOMY). 



573 



ABNORMAL ANATOMY OF THE OVARY. 



Effects of extirpating the Oviry. A natural 

 deficiency of the ovary together with the 

 oviduct of one side is known to prevail in 

 the class Aves, but this deficiency, which is oc- 

 casioned only by a want of development of 

 one half of the generative organs previously 

 existing entire in the embryo, does not affect 

 the reproductive power of birds. 



Mr. Hunter, wishing to determine the effect 

 of extirpating one ovarium upon the number 

 of young produced in Mammalia, procured 

 two young sows of the same farrow, and 

 having removed a single ovarium from one 

 of them, he kept both animals under the 

 same circumstances, in order to observe the 

 comparative effects of breeding upon them. 



They commenced breeding when two years 

 old. The spayed animal took the boar earlier 

 than the perfect female, and both continued 

 to breed at nearly the same times. 



The spayed animal continued to breed 

 until she was six years old, and in that time 

 she had eight farrows, producing in all seventy- 

 six pigs, but she did not take the boar after- 

 wards. The perfect sow continued breeding 

 until she was eight years old, and had thirteen 

 farrows, yielding one hundred and sixty-two 

 pigs. She then ceased to breed. The result 

 therefore of this experiment was, that the 

 perfect animal continued to breed two years 

 longer, and produced in all ten more than 

 double the number of the spayed one, although 

 she had not double the number of farrows. 



But few opportunities have occurred for 

 observing the effects produced by the removal 

 of the healthy ovaria upon the human female. 

 The case in which Mr. Pott removed both 

 these organs at the same tune constitutes the 

 best example on record. 



A young and healthy woman, twenty-three 

 years of age, was received into St. Bartho- 

 lomew's Hospital, on account of two small 

 swellings, one in each groin, which had for 

 several months been so painful as to prevent 

 her from following her occupation as a servant. 

 The swellings, which were not inflammatory, 

 were soft, uneven upon their surface, and 

 moveable. They lay directly upon the out- 

 side of the tendinous opening of the oblique 

 muscle through which they appeared to have 

 passed. The woman was in full health, was 

 large breasted, and menstruated regularly. 

 On account of the inconvenience occasioned 

 by the presence of these tumours in the 

 groins, Mr. Pott was prevailed upon to re- 

 move them. They were found upon exami- 

 nation to be the two ovaria which had de- 

 scended in the form of a double inguinal 

 hernia. The woman subsequently enjoyed 

 good health, but became thinner and more 

 apparently muscular; her breasts, which were 

 large, were gone, nor did she ever menstruate 

 after the operation ; the last observation of 

 her having been made several years subsequent 

 to that event.* 



Deficiency of the Ovary. Complete con- 



* The Chirurgical works of Percival Pott, by Earl, 

 vol. ii. p. 210. 



genital absence of both ovaries, except in the 

 case of the non-viable foetus, is of extremely 

 rare occurrence. It is almost always asso- 

 ciated with deficiency or imperfect formation 

 of the uterus, and generally with incomplete 

 development of the vagina, nymphae, clitoris, 

 and mammae. The sexual appetite in these 

 cases is wanting. Menstruation is absent ; 

 the secondary sexual characters are but feebly 

 expressed, and there is of necessity a total in- 

 aptitude for reproduction. 



The ovary may, however, be deficient on 

 one side only, without any of these accom- 

 panying conditions. There may be nothing 

 externally to mark the defect, nor is there 

 necessarily here any impediment to the ex- 

 ercise of the sexual function. 



Arrest of Development. The ovary, like 

 the uterus, long retains its infantile condition, 

 but as the period of puberty approaches it 

 expands and soon attains its full size. This 

 change, however, may not occur. The ovary 

 may cease to grow after the third or fourth 

 year, and, under these circumstances, the 

 whole organism manifests a corresponding 

 tardiness of development. An interesting 

 example of this is preserved in the museum 

 of King's College. The preparation consists 

 of the entire internal organs of a young wo- 

 man who died at the age of nineteen without 

 having menstruated. The ovaries, as well as 

 the rest of the organs, are no larger than 

 those of a child of three years (see^?g. 465.). In 

 these cases the mammae are small, the ex- 

 ternal organs only partially developed, and the 

 whole frame is formed upon a feeble scale. 



Atrophy and Hypertrophy. Atrophy has 

 been shown to be one of the conditions at 

 which the ovary inevitably arrives when a 

 certain period of life is passed. It is under 

 these circumstances a normal condition, just 

 as the state last described is also a normal 

 condition when associated with a certain 

 epoch, but both become abnormal states when 

 they occur out of their usual course. Thus, 

 an early atrophy of the ovary on both sides 

 will of necessity bring with it a premature 

 failure of procreative power, although an 

 atrophied state of the organ on one side 

 only, like atrophy of one testis, will but little, 

 if at all, affect this power. 



Of hypertrophy of the ovary a more par- 

 ticular account will be given in the descrip- 

 tion of morbid growths and abnormal deve- 

 lopments of its special parts. 



Displacements of the Ovary. The ovary, 

 in consequence of its peculiar mode of attach- 

 ment to surrounding parts, enjoys great free- 

 dom and range of motion. This is rendered 

 most conspicuous, when, during the gradual 

 enlargement of the gravid uterus, the ovary 

 is carried upwards from the pelvic into the 

 abdominal cavity. Under these circumstances 

 the ovary certainly vindicates the character 

 assigned to it by the older anatomists, of being 

 an appendage to the uterus, for it necessarily 

 follows the movements of the larger organ to 

 which it is attached. Thus, the ovary is 

 sometimes a pelvic and sometimes an abdo- 



