612 REPRODUCTION. 



WEIGHT OF THE CORPUS LUTEUM. 



Milligrammes 



1. Two days after menstruation 380 



2. Nine days after " 430 



3. Ten days after " 810 



4. Fifteen to twenty days after menstruation . . . 1230 



5. Twenty days after menstruation 1200 



6. Six weeks after 90 



7. Ten weeks after . . . 20 



8. Eleven weeks after " 15 



The corpus luteum, accordingly, is a formation which results from 

 the obliteration of a ruptured Graafian follicle. It is produced during 

 the intermenstrual period, and occupies the substance of the ovary, 

 immediately beneath the superficial cicatrix which marks the site of 

 the rupture. After acquiring its maximum size about the end of the 

 third week it passes into the retrograde condition and soon becomes 

 obsolete ; while a new body, of similar structure, is produced from the 

 rupture of another Graafian follicle. In an ordinary intermenstrual 

 period, therefore, the ovaries contain, as a rule, one corpus luteum of 

 preponderating size, and in addition several which are more or less 

 obsolete. Four, five, six, and even eight corpora lutea may thus be 

 found in the ovaries at the same time, perfectly distinguishable by 

 their texture, though very small, and for the most part in a state of 

 advanced retrogression. As they finally disappear, one after the other, 

 their number no longer corresponds with that of the Graafian follicles 

 which have been ruptured. 



Corpus Luteum of Pregnancy. 



Since the process above described occurs at each menstrual period, 

 the presence of a corpus luteum is no indication that pregnancy has 

 existed, but only that a Graafian follicle has been ruptured and its 

 contents discharged. Nevertheless, when pregnancy takes place, the 

 history of the corpus luteum is different in some respects from that 

 which follows an ordinary menstruation. 



The distinction between the two kinds of corpora lutea is not an 

 essential or fundamental difference ; since they both originate in the 

 same way, and are composed of the same structures. It depends on 

 the difference in rapidity and degree of their development. While the 

 corpus luteum of menstruation passes rapidly through its stages, and 

 is soon reduced to a condition of atrophy, that of pregnancy continues 

 its development for a longer time, attains a larger size and firmer organ- 

 ization, and disappears at a later period. 



The variation of the corpus luteum in pregnancy is caused, no doubt, 

 by the condition of the uterus. This organ exerts a wide influence, in 

 the state of gestation, on many parts of the system. The stomach 

 becomes irritable, the appetite is capricious, and even the mental and 

 moral qualities are more or less affected. The ovaries feel this influence 



