Volume 1

A treatise on the science and practice of midwifery / by W.S. Playfair.

Date:
1886
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on the science and practice of midwifery / by W.S. Playfair. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    for the spermatozoa to penetrate the proper structure of the follicle and the epithelial covering of the ovary, and no one has actually seen them doing so. Most probably the contact of the spermatozoa and the ovule occurs very shortly after the rupture of the follicle, and in the outer part of the Fallo- pian tubes. Coste maintains that, unless the ovule is im]3reg- nated, it very rapidly degenerates after being expelled from the ovary, partly by inherent changes in the ovule itself, and partly because it then soon becomes invested by an albumi- nous covering wliich is impermeable to the spermatozoa. He believes, therefore, that impregnation can only occur either on the surface of the ovary, or just within the fimbri- ated extremity of the tube. The semen is probably carried upwards chiefly by the in- Mode in herent mobility of the spermatozoa. It is believed by some Ascent that this is assisted by other agencies : amongst them are the semen mentioned the peristaltic action of the uterus and Fallopian is e ec e . tubes; a sort of capillary attraction affected when the walls of the uterus are in close contact, similar to the movement of fluid in minute tubes ; and also the vibratile action of the cilia of the epithelium of the uterine mucous membrane- The action of the latter is extremely doubtful, for they are also supposed to effect the descent of the ovule, and they can hardly act in two opposite ways. The movement of the cilia being from within outwards, it would certainly oppose rather than favour the progress of the spermatozoa. It must, therefore, be admitted that they ascend chiefly through their own powers of motion. They certainly have this power to a remarkable extent, for there are numerous cases on record in which impregnation has occurred without penetration, and even when the hymen was quite entire, and in which the semen has simply been deposited on the exterior of the vulva; in such cases, which are far from uncom- mon, the spermatozoa must have found their way through the whole length of the vagina. It is probable, however, that Fig. 44. OVUM OP RAunn- containing speuma- TOZOA. 1. Zona pellucida. 2. The genus, con- sisting of two large cells, several smaller cells, and spermatozoa.