FOETAL NUTRITION: THE PLACENTA 



433 



of fcetal nutriment. It was analysed Ijj (lamgee,^ wlio showed that 

 the fluid contained a large amount of protein and fat and some salts, 

 and was thus well adapted for nutrition. 



liut Haller's view of its oiigin w-as n(jt accepted b}' Turner " and 

 Ercolani.^ Turner showed tliat duiing pregnancy new crypts were 

 formed in the cotyledons, and he supposed that the uterine milk 

 I'epi'csented the secretion of these crypts. Ercolani went even further 

 and stated that such a secretion existed in all placentas liut Turner 

 was strongly opposed to this: "That such a fluid (uterine milk) is 



Fiij. 117. — Cohuunar trophoblast-cell.s from the ba.se of a f(etal villus of the 

 placenta of the cow at the thiid month of pregnancy, to show phago- 

 cytosis. (From Jenkinson's "Notes on the Histology and Physiology 

 of the Placenta in Ungulata,'' I'ro'-. Zool. ,Soc., London, vol. i., 1906.) 



pi'oduced in all placenta^, wliei-e utricular glands or follicles continue 

 to secrete during the whole period of placental formation, is very 

 probalde. But in the placentas of the slotli, the apes, and the human 

 female, where an unusual development of the )uaternal Idood-vessels 

 into larger sinuses takes place, a modification in the anatomical 

 structure is produced which seems to render the presence of such a 

 seci'otion unnecessary. The nutritive changes in all prolialiility take 

 place directly l)etweeii the maternal and fa?tal blood." 



' (lauigee, "On the Chemistry and Physiology of the Milky Fluid found in 

 the Placental Cotyledons of Ruminants," Bi-it. ami Fiti\ Mi'd.-Clitr. Itecimv, 1864. 



^Turner, "The Placentation of tlie Sloths," -/o"/'. of Aunt, mtil /'hi/x., vol. 

 viii., 1874. 



•' Ercolani, "SulT unita del tipo anatomico della jjlacenta," J/em. de/P Arced, 

 di Bologna, 1876. 



