CHAPTER XVII. 



THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS. 



I. IN THE FEMALE. 



The female reproductive organs are : (1) the ovary, in which the 

 egg is produced ; (2) the Fallopian tube, through which it is con- 

 veyed to (3) the uterus, where it develops into the foetus, and from 

 which the child at maturity passes through (4) the vagina and (5) 

 external genitals into the external world. 



1. The Ovary (Fig. 193). — The free surface of the ovary is cov- 

 ered with a single layer of columnar epithelium, called the "germinal 

 epithelium." Beneath this the substance of the organ is composed 

 of a vascularized fibrous tissue, the "stroma," which is slightly dif- 

 ferent in the details of its structure in different parts of the organ. 

 Immediately beneath the germinal epithelium it is slightly richer 

 in intercellular substance than in the subjacent parts, so that the 

 organ appears to have a proper fibrous coat. This coat is not dis- 

 tinct, however, and gradually passes into a highly cellular form of 

 fibrous tissue, in which the spindle-shaped cells are separated by 

 only a small amount of a delicate fibrous intercellular substance. 

 Toward the hilum of the ovary this connective tissue passes into a 

 more distinctly fibrous tissue, containing a larger amount of inter- 

 cellular substance and cells that are less prominent. In this portion 

 of the stroma the larger vessels supplying the organ are situated, 

 and from it they send smaller branches throughout the stroma of 

 the organ. Within the more cellular regions of the stroma are the 

 structures known as the Graafian follicles, each of which contains 

 an ovum. In order to understand the structure of these Graafian 

 follicles it will be well to trace the history of their development. 



The Graafian follicles and ova are derived during foetal life from 

 the germinal epithelium covering the ovary. From this layer of 

 cells little columns of epithelium make their way into the stroma, 

 where they become broken up into small isolated groups, in each of 

 which one of the cells develops into an ovum, while the rest con- 

 tribute to the formation of the Graafian follicle. This mode of origin 



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