358 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF .REPRODUCTION 



hypertrophy. These facts may perhaps be regarded as supplying 

 some further evidence that the ovary is an organ of internal secretion ^ 

 (c/. the testis, p. 338). Lipschutz,^ however, while confirming the 

 above recorded observations, states that the augmentation in the 

 ovarian volume is due to the growth and increase of the follicles. 



According to Loisel,^ the , ovary fulfils a purifying function in the 

 organism, and absorbs injurious products. This theory seems to have 

 little experimental basis.* 



The Factors which determine the Occukkence 

 OF Heat and Menstruation 



Pfliiger ^ advanced the theory that menstruation is brought about 

 by a nervous reflex, owing its origin to the pressure of the growing 

 Graafian follicles upon the nerve endings in the ovary. This view 

 received some support from Strassmann,* who claimed to have induced 

 "heat" in animals by injecting gelatine into their ovaries, and so 

 producing intra-ovarian pressure. Elizabeth Winterhalter's ' alleged 

 discovery of a sympathetic ganglion in the ovary also tended to 

 support this theory; but von.Herff^ discredited her description, 

 which, so far, has. received no coiifirtoatioh. 

 ' Goltz" showed that heat in animals, is not brought about by a 

 cerebral or spinal reflex. In one experiment the spinal cord of a bitch 

 was transected in the lumbar region ; normal procsstrum, followed 

 by oestrus and conception, occurred,, as 'usual, "btit copulation was 

 unaccompanied by sensation, though the animal showed a marked 

 incHnation towards the dog. ■ In another' experiment the lumbar 

 part of the spinal cord was completely removed , without interfering 

 with the cyclical recurrence of proeestrum and oestrus. Moreover, 



' Carmichael and Marshall; "On the Occurrence of Compensatory Hyper- 

 trophy in the Ovary," Jov/r. of Phydol., vol. xxxvi., 1908. 



^ Lipschutz; "Wagner, and Tamen, " Sur I'Hiypertrophie des Fragments 

 Ovariens dans la Castration Partielle," C. R.dela Sac. de Biol., vol. Ixxxvi., 1922. 



3 Loisel, "Les Poisons des Glandes ggnitales," C. R. de la Sac. de Biol., 

 vol. Iv., 1903 ; vol. Ivi., 1904 ; and vol. Ivii., 1904. 



^ Ovariotomy has an effect on the skeleton comparable to that of castration. 

 See Shattock and Seligman, " The Influence of Oophorectomy upon the Growth 

 of the Pelvis," Proc. Roy. Soc. Med., Path. Sec, 1910. 



•^ Pfliiger, Uber die Bedeiiiung und Ursaohe der Menstruation, Berlin, 1865. 



" Strasamann, Lehrbuch der gerichilichen Medizin, 1895. 



' Winterhalter, " Ein Sympathisches Ganglion im Mensehlichen Ovarium," 

 Arch. f. Gyndk., vol. li., 1896. 



* Von' Herff, "Giebt es ein Sympathisches Granglion im Mensehlichen 

 Ovarium," Arch. f. Gynah., vol. li., 1896. For information upon the innervation 

 of the ovary, see von Herff, "Uber den feineren Verlauf der Nerven im 

 Eierstock," Zeitsch. f. Geh. u. Gyndk, vol. xxiv., 1893. 



^ Goltz, "Ueber den Einfluss des Nervensystems auf die Vorgange wahrend 

 ' der Schwangerschaft und des Gebarakts," Pfliigei'» Arch., vol. ix., 1874. Goltz 

 and Ewald, "Der Hund mit verkiirztem Ruckenmark," PflUge^s Arch., vol. Ixiii., 

 1896. 



