326 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION 



had lost their normal nervous connections. It is probable, 

 therefore, that the uterus depends for its proper nutrition upon 

 substances secreted by the ovaries. 



Further evidence in support of the view that the ovary pro- 

 duces an internal secretion is provided by the results of ovarian 

 medication or the administration of preparations of ovarian 

 substance for medicinal purposes. It is somewhat difficult, 

 however, to know precisely what value to assign to this practice 

 about which medical authorities stiU appear to differ. Brown- 

 Sequard ^ seems to have been the first to employ ovarian ex- 

 tracts medicinally. He supposed them to produce similar 

 effects bo those brought about by testicular extracts, but they 

 did not appear to be so powerful. Since Brown-Sequard's time 

 ovarian preparations have been used medicinally in a large 

 number of cases with more or less successful results. The fresh 

 ovaries are themselves taken, or ovarian tissue is given in the 

 form of fluid or powder (ovarine, oophorine, ovigenine, &c.). 

 The fresh ovaries or ovarian powder are eaten, but the fluid can 

 be administered either by the mouth, by the rectum, or by 

 hypodermic injection. These methods of treatment are said 

 to have met with considerable success in cases of amenorrhcea, 

 chlorosis, and menopause troubles, both natural and post- 

 operative. Some physicians, however, report only a very 

 moderate or doubtful success, while a few state that the results 

 are nearly always unsatisfactory.^ The method of administering 

 the extract by the mouth is open to the criticism that the " active 

 principle " of the ovarian secretion may be altered in the meta- 

 boHc processes of digestion. Moreover, it is by no means certain 

 that the " active principle " may not be destroyed in the manu- 

 facture of the preparations. Again, it is not unUkely that the 

 effects of ovarian medication may depend, not only upon the 

 method of preparing the extracts, but also upon the condition 

 of the ovaries from which the extracts are made, and it would 

 seem unreasonable to expect to obtain uniform results from 

 the indiscriminate usage of ovaries in different stages of cychcal 



^ Brown-S^quard, " Des Effets produits chez 1' Homme par des Injec- 

 tions," &c., G. R. de la Soc, de Biol., 1889. 



^ For references to the literature of ovarian medication, see Andrews, 

 " Internal Secretion of the Ovary," Jour, of Obstet. and Oyn., vol. v., 1904. 



