FALLOPIAN TUBE OR OVIDUCT (NORMAL ANATOMY). 



597 



pouches (Jig. 401 . c c), are converted into the 

 18 20 tubules of the parovarium (fg.4O3. c), 

 and these secerning tubes become organi- 

 cally connected with the hilum of the ovary, 

 /. They are the homotypes of the male coni 

 vasculosi, and vasa efferentia, but which con- 

 stitute here vasa adferentia. 



The superior blind pouches and the bulb 

 of the excretory duct disappear, or contri- 

 bute to form the hydatids at the outer border 

 of the parovarium (fig. 403. fb\ which are 

 so commonly mistaken for morbid struc- 

 tures. 



The inferior blind pouches (fig. 401. rf) 

 remain and represent the vasa aberrantia of 

 Haller (Jig. 402. rf), in the male. Several of 

 them become elongated and intermingled 

 with the vessels of the spermatic plexus (fig. 

 403. d). 



The excretory duct of the Wolffian body 

 (./% 4-01. e) in the female, undergoes a retro- 

 gression in its whole length, and the lower 

 end disappears entirely. (Fig. 403. e). 



The duct of Miiller (fg. 401, h) is con- 

 verted into the Fallopian tube (fg. 403. h), 

 and its bulb (fig. 401. i) becomes the terminal 

 hydatid of the same (fig. 403. i). This latter 

 structure, of which a very excellent example, 

 as occurring on both sides, is given infg. 368. 

 e e t is very constantly present in the adult. 

 Like the so-called hydatid (fg. 403./and 408. 

 g) at the outer border of the parovarium, it is 

 frequently mistaken for a morbid product, 

 and is often so designated in descriptions of 

 these parts ; an error which the improper title 

 of hydatid tends to propagate. 



The interruption or deficiency of the Fal- 

 lopian tube in the female is a malformation, 

 which represents a normal condition in the 

 male. 



The parovarium exhibits parallel stages of 

 development and retrogression with its corre- 

 sponding ovary at different periods of life. 



Abnormal Anatomy of the Parovarium. 

 So little attention has been given to this 

 structure in its natural condition that accu- 

 rate information regarding its morbid states 

 can hardly be looked for. The so-called 

 hydatids, which are found at the outer bor- 

 der of the parovarium in most adult speci- 

 mens, and which are constructed out of the 

 superior blind pouches and bulb of the ex- 

 cretory duct of the Wolffian body, have been 

 already just noticed as normal structures. 

 These are found pretty constantly in younger 

 subjects, while the hydatids of later forma- 

 tion in the alae vespertilionum are formed of 

 the remains of the canals of the retrograde 

 parovarium. Within the walls of these canals 

 is collected occasionally a considerable amount 

 of fluid, and it is probable that this is the 

 origin of those larger accumulations to which 

 the term dropsy of the broad ligament has 

 been applied. 



FALLOPIAN TUBE OR OVIDUCT. 

 NORMAL ANATOMY. 



TubfB uteri vel Fallopiance ; oviducti ; vasa 

 spermatica vel ejaculantia, Lat. ; Muttertrom- 

 peten, Germ. ; Trompes uterines, Trompes de 

 Fallope, Fr. 



The Fallopian tube (fg. 368. c c, and 404. 

 a b c) is the excretory duct of the ovary, 

 as its homotype, the vas deferens, is the 

 excretory conduit of the testis. And while 

 in an anatomical point of view the tube 

 is an appendage of the uterus, in a physio- 

 logical sense it must be regarded as the 

 proper appurtenance of the ovary. But the 

 Fallopian tube differs from the vas deferens, 

 as well as from every other excretory duct 

 in the animal economy, in this important 

 particular, that it is entirely detached from 

 its proper gland, between which and the 

 uterus it serves to establish only a temporary 

 communication. 



This separation of the oviduct from the 

 ovary is associated with a higher type 0f 

 general structure than that which accompanies 

 the blending of these parts. It is first ob- 

 served in the cartilaginous fishes, and prevails 

 in all classes of the animal kingdom above 

 them ; while in the osseous fishes and in 

 the invertebrata possessing distinct ovaries, 

 the oviducts are directly continuous with 

 those bodies. 



The Fallopian tube or oviduct is developed 

 equally on both sides of the body in all 

 vertebrate animals, except in the class Aves, 

 where the right tube becomes atrophied at 

 an early period, while the left alone is de- 

 veloped. 



In the human subject each ovary is pro- 

 vided with its proper oviduct, which serves 

 to convey the ova from either side to the 

 central organ, the uterus. But the detached 

 position of the oviduct permits so great a 

 range of motion in its free extremity, that, 

 not only can this be applied to every part of 

 the surface of the corresponding ovary, but 

 the tube of one side may occasionally serve 

 as a conduit to the opposite gland, and re- 

 ceive its product. The action of the tube, 

 however, is then imperfect ; and, when im- 

 pregnation obtains, an abnormal form of ges- 

 tation usually results. 



Form and dimensions. Each oviduct has 

 the form of a conical tube, the base of which 

 is free and directed towards the ovary, while 

 its apex is attached to the corresponding 

 superior angle of the uterus, out of which it 

 appears to arise. 



The form of the tube was compared by 

 Fallopius to that of a horn or trumpet, which 

 instrument, when straightened or only slightly 

 curved, it sufficiently resembles. Issuing 

 from the upper angle of the uterus, at the 

 point of junction of the superior and lateral 

 borders, the oviduct commences round and 

 narrow (fg. 404. e), and proceeds outwardly 

 gradually and regularly widening up to its dis- 

 tal extremity, where it contracts somewhat 

 QQ 3 



