The periodical maturation and extrusion of ova, independently of coitus, in mammalia and man, proved to be the primary condition to their propagation / translated from the German of Th. L.W. Bischoff, by Henry Smith.

  • Bischoff, Theodore Ludwig Wilhelm, 1807-1882.
Date:
1845
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The periodical maturation and extrusion of ova, independently of coitus, in mammalia and man, proved to be the primary condition to their propagation / translated from the German of Th. L.W. Bischoff, by Henry Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    and both completely closed superiorly. On the right side a callus-like portion of cicatrix material (Narbensubstanz), two lines in length, connected the lower portion of that cornu of the uterus in direct con- tinuation with the upper portion, which was more than an inch in length, and had the ovary and fallopian tube attached to it, both of which were quite normal, and had acquired no adhesions. The left side presented a larger portion of this cicatrix-material, and between that substance and the omentum the most complete adhesion had formed : with this material, the upper portion of the left cornu, with ovary and tube attached, was con- tinuous, as on the other side; the upper portion of this cornu, however, was somewhat distended, and contained pus. The ovary and tube were quite normal. My first investigation was with respect to the seminal fluid ; and I found spermatozoa in the body and both the lower portions of the two horns of the uterus; on the whole, however, but few. They were no longer in motion ; which fact, as well as then’ paucity, astonished me in some degree, as the bitch had copulated only the previous day. There was not the slightest trace of spermatozoa to be found in the upper portion of the right uterus, after the most minute search; the pus on the left side made the examination both impossible and unnecessary. The ovary of the right side exhibited two, and that of the left four, quite perfectly developed, fresh and large corpora lutea. They did not in any point differ from the corpora lutea of other bitches on the eighth day after coitus: they were quite as large, quite as much injected and flesh-coloured in appearance ; they presented in their interior precisely the same structure and radiated texture, and contained also a small central cavity, filled with a transparent gelatinous mass. The sufaces of most were smooth, only one of them exhibiting a kind of opening ; such an opening is, however, rarely met with in bitches on the eighth day, and is in most instances already closed, without even a trace of its appearance. Lastly, both ovaries still contained most distinctly the five corpora lutea of the impregnation in January, in the form of lenticular yellow masses. I next examined, in the most careful manner possible, both fallopian tubes, and the upper portion of the right uterus, for the ova. Unfortu- nately, however, I found none. I do not think that I could have over- looked them, even although they might have already undergone an essential change in appearance. On the other hand, I am nevertheless convinced, from the condition of the corpora lutea, and from my experience with rabbits, that the ova had already left the ovary, and had entered the tube, perhaps even the uterus, and had there aborted for want of fecunda- tion. I ought to have made the investigation earlier, on the third or fourth day, and not to have deferred it until the ninth. On the 14th August, 1842, I opened the abdomen of a bitch, supposing