OVARY (ABNORMAL ANATOMY). 



stance, of the consistence and aspect of lard 

 or butter, in the midst of which are imbedded 

 those coils of loose hair with which it is 

 usually associated (/g. 397. d). This fatty 

 material is of a white or yellowish hue, and 

 is commonly inodorous, but sometimes it ex- 

 hales an intolerably fetid odour, especially in 

 those cases where air has been admitted into 

 the sac, and partial decomposition has taken 

 place, or where foetid pus has been formed 

 within the cyst. The second condition under 

 which fat is found is that of masses V in 

 thickness, lying beneath the general lining of 

 the sac, which is protruded before them, caus- 

 ing irregular elevations into the interior of 

 the cyst (Jig. 397. a). These present the 

 ordinary character of adipose tissue, but pos- 

 sess a smaller proportion than usual of the 

 cellular element. 



Hair is found in ovarian cysts also under 

 two forms, either still attached to the walls 

 or lying in loose tangled coils in the centre of 

 the cavity. Those attached to the walls are 

 seen to spring from follicles, which may be 

 scattered evenly over the cyst wall, in which 

 case the hairs are usually short, or they may 

 arise from a group of hair follicles, closely set, 

 and imbedded in a substance clearly possess- 

 ing the characters of ordinary skin. In the 

 latter case the portions of integument from 

 which they spring are generally elevated upon 

 a mass of subcutaneous fat, as just described, 

 and the hairs, which are well nourished and 

 long, form at their free ends a tangled coil, 

 intermingled with the loose fat already men- 

 tioned (fig. 397.). In these cases the hair 

 often attains to a considerable length ; it is 

 fine and smooth, and resembles the long hair 

 of the back of the head, exceeding sometimes 

 in length two feet. The colour of the hair is 

 usually red, dark brown, or black ; it bears no 

 resemblance to the hair of the individual in 

 whom it occurs. Thus, in the case of an 

 ovarian cyst occurring in a negress, Andral 

 observed numerous hairs differing essentially 

 from the w r oolly hair of the head ; they were 

 soft, smooth, red, or blonde, and some were 

 silverv, like the hair of children of white races. 



The loose hairs may be easily detached by 

 maceration in turpentine or ether, from the 

 mass of fatty substance in which they are 

 entangled. They are then sometimes seen to 

 be destitute of bulbs. They are usually more 

 crisp and shorter than the attached hairs, ex- 

 cept when the latter occur singly. 



Teeth are very commonly found associated 

 with hair and fat. These may possess the 

 perfect character of incisor canine or molar 

 teeth, but more frequently the resemblance is 

 only general, and a more accurate examination 

 discovers in them some imperfection of form. 

 The resemblance is sometimes greatest to the 

 deciduous, and sometimes to the permanent 

 set. In the less perfect forms the crowns only 

 are developed, the roots being deficient. But 

 in most cases the intimate texture of the tooth 

 differs in no respect from the ordinary dental 

 structure.* 



* This is illustrated by Plate 124. of Professor 



585 



Ovarian teeth are generally found associated 

 with portions of irregular-shaped bone, in 

 which they are often imbedded. They may, 

 however, be attached to the tegumentary lining 

 of the cyst walls, and more rarely they have 

 been found connected to portions of cartilage. 



Bone. The bones found within ovarian 

 cysts differ from the ossified portions occa- 

 sionally observed in the cyst in this respect, 

 that, while the latter consist of merely 

 crystalline or amorphous aggregations of 

 earthy matter, the former, although irregular 

 in shape, yet exhibit a true osseous structure, 

 in which may be readily detected the usual 

 arrangement of concentric lamellae, Haversian 

 canals, lacunae and canaliculi. Such bones 

 often bear a sufficient resemblance to frag- 

 ments of jaws and vertebrae to admit of a 

 general comparison with those parts of the 

 skeleton ; but well-shaped and perfect bones 

 are not found, except in cysts of whose nature 

 and origin some doubts at least may be enter- 

 tained. 



In fig. 397. are represented several of the 

 solid structures commonly found in an ovarian 

 cyst. A long coil of tangled hair, mixed 

 with lardaceous matter, is seen springing from 

 a portion of the cyst wall at a part which is 

 lined by common integument. Here many 



Fig. 397 



Ovarian cyst containing hair, loose fatty mattir, adi- 

 pose tissue, selxiceous glands, and hair follicles. 

 (After Cruveilhier.) 



hair follicles are observed, some being empty, 

 and others containing short hairs. The parts 



Owen's " Odontography," exhibiting the microscopic 

 structure of a tooth, from an ovarian cyst in my 

 collection. Five other teeth were contained in this 

 cyst, together with a portion of tegumental struc- 

 ture, subcutaneous fat, bone, and hair. 



