56 



sell-destruction by cutting her throat twenty-nine days before her 

 death. 



An examination of the body showed that the pelvic viscera were 

 much congested ; that the uterus was considerably enlarged ; that 

 the vagina contained a sero-sanguineous fluid ; and that the hymen 

 was unruptured. The ovaries were covered with stellate fissures, 

 or cicatrices ; and at one part of the left organ there was a purple 

 spot having a ragged hole in its centre. By means of an incision 

 into the gland through this spot, it was found that the opening led 

 into a small cavity ^vhich was surrounded at its lower part by a 

 dense tissue, infiltrated with dark coagulated blood (reference was 

 here made to the preparation which shows the cavity and its coa- 

 gulum). After macerating in spirit for a short time, it was noticed 

 that the clot consisted of four parts, which the author described. 



In other parts of the ovary several false corpora lutea, in different 

 stages of decline, were found. The Fallopian tubes were highly con- 

 gested, and the cavities of the tubes were filled with a bloody mucus. 

 The left one contained at about one inch from its fimbriated end, a 

 small vesicular body, which was, in the author's opinion, an ovule; 

 for it consisted of nucleated cells and oil-globules. The fluid 

 matters of the uterus and Fallopian tubes were made up of blood- 

 discs, cylindrical epithelium, granular corpuscles, and a few spindle- 

 shaped bodies. 



The second case was that of a girl who had died at St. Luke's 

 Hospital, where the supervision of the patient was quite as strict as 

 that in the last case. In this instance the anatomical features were 

 precisely like the preceding. The right Fallopian tube contained a 

 globular body similar to that found in the left on the former occa- 

 sion. This globular body, on being crushed between two pieces of 

 glass and examined under the microscope, was found to consist ex- 

 ternally of a mass of nucleated cells, the remains of the tunica gra- 

 nulosa, and of a transparent ring, enclosing an opake granular 

 mass, and a highly pellucid spot. The author considered that this 

 body was the liberated ovule, and the influence of chemical reagents 

 served to support his opinion. 



An examination of the corpora lutea found in both cases, showed 

 that they consisted of large granular corpuscles and oil-globules. 



The conclusions arrived at by the author were as follows : — 



1. That ovules escape from the ovaries of women during the 

 period of menstruation ; and that their escape is a spontaneous act, 

 taking place quite independently of sexual intercourse. 



2. That immediately before, or else consentaneous with, the 

 escape of an ovule, the whole substance of the Graafian follicle 

 becomes charged with effused blood ; and that a sort of fatty dege- 

 neration of the effused matter soon afterwards takes place. 



3. That the mere presence of a yellow body containing a clot in 

 the ovary, is not by any means a certain sign of recent impregnation. 



4. That a sanguineous fluid is poured out over the whole mucous 

 tract of the generative system during the catamenial period. 



5. That the results of the observation tend to confirm the opinions 



