THE GENITAL GLANDS 11 



The Corpus Luteum. — After o\iilation has 

 occurred, the Graafian folHcle becomes converted 

 into a gland containing a yellow fatty pigment, the 

 corpus luteum. Ordinarily this is quite small ; if 

 pregnancy follows it may reach a diameter of half to 

 three-quarters of an inch. Apparently the internal 

 secretion of this body determines the fixation of the 

 ovum in the uterus, and perhaps also the subsequent 

 overgrowth of that organ. If both ovaries are 

 removed early in pregnancy, abortion always follows. 

 In extra-uterine pregnancy the uterus enlarges 

 although the foetus is not inside it. Removal of both 

 ovaries in animals or in the human subject in the 

 later months of pregnancy does not usually lead to 

 abortion ; one patient went on to full term in spite 

 of double oophorectomy as early as the sixth week. 



Whether the internal secretions of the ovary are 

 due to the corpus luteum or to the interstitial 

 glandular cells is quite uncertain. There is some 

 evidence of other obscure internal secretory functions 

 besides those mentioned. A rare disease called 

 osteomalacia, characterized by softening and bend- 

 ing due to decalcification of the bones, makes great 

 progress during pregnancy, and in some cases at 

 least is cured by a double oophorectomy. 



Ovarian feeding has been tried to relieve the 

 symptoms of the natural or artificial menopause, but 

 the results are dubious. It is always difficult to 

 foretell when an internal secretion will be capable of 

 absorption through the intestinal wall unchanged. 

 Calcium salts have been used for the same troubles, 

 and in some cases, at least, work remarkably well. 



