Z 59 1 
IV. On Corpora Lutea . .By »SYrEverard Home, Bart. V. P.R. S. 
Read January 14, 1819. 
Jn May, 1817, I laid before the Society an account of the 
human ovum, and not only showed the cavity of the corpus 
luteum from which it had escaped, but another corpus luteum 
in the same ovarium, which had made a considerable advance 
in its growth. 
Ever since that time I have been actively employed, with 
the assistance of Mr. Bauer, in tracing the rise and progress 
of the corpus luteum to its full growth, its use, and after- 
wards its decay. The result of our labours is contained in 
the present communication, and in the drawings which ac- 
company it. 
Corpora lutea are never met with before puberty; the 
natural structure of the ovarium is therefore more readily 
ascertained before that period. It is nearly the same in dif- 
ferent animals; is of a loose open texture, in which, more parti- 
cularly near the circumference, a number of small cells of a 
globular form are met with. This structure is shown in the 
annexed drawings, in the human ovarium, [Plate III. fig. 2.[] 
in that of the cow, [[Plate VI. fig. 2.[] and in that of the sow, 
[Plate VIII. fig. 2.] 
The corpus luteum, from its first appearance, seems to be 
an entirely new substance, distinct from that of the ovarium 
itself; it is never formed within the cells, but in the substance 
of the ovarium ; [See Plate IV. fig. 2 and 4 : Plate VI. fig. 
4 : and Plate VIII. fig. 4:3 and compresses the surrounding 
