12 
AN EARLY HUMAN OVUM 
On November 5th the bleeding became more profuse than at 
an ordinary menstrual period, and the clots and membrane 
were passed towards evening with considerable pain. 
The patient made an uneventful recovery, and menstruation re¬ 
appeared twenty-six days after the fourth of November. 
FIXATION OF THE SPECIMEN. 
Notwithstanding the circumstances under which the ovum was obtained 
the state of preservation of the tissues is wonderfully good. The mixture 
of blood serum and urine apparently behaved as a neutral fluid, which 
destroyed the tissues far less than they would have been destroyed by 
water or even by ordinary normal saline solution. Though we cannot 
claim that the fixation is perfect, we are satisfied 'that it is sufficiently 
reliable for all practical purposes. The nuclei are on the whole well 
fixed, but the protoplasm is less well preserved and has in parts a slightly 
macerated appearance. The colouring matter of the blood has been almost 
entirely dissolved; the red corpuscles are, therefore, shadowy, but they 
have for the most part retained their normal shape. There is further 
a certain amount of granular debris in the blood spaces. The effects of 
precipitation and maceration are not, however, sufficient to invalidate 
conclusions regarding the essential facts of the histology of the ovum and 
of the decidua. The embryonic rudiment is somewhat torn, but it has 
been possible by reconstruction to make good the defect in this respect. 
It has generally been assumed that the only hope of getting a young 
normal ovum, is the chance of an operation or of a suicide. The present 
case shows that even in the case of an early abortion, an ovum may be 
cast off intact in the mucous membrane, and recovered in quite a satis¬ 
factory state of preservation. There is no reason for supposing that the 
mucous membrane was diseased in this case, and it is probable that the 
abortion was due to mechanical causes, seeing that it ensued immediately 
after coitus. - 
