The Fate of the Ovum and Graafian Follicle in Præ‐menstrual Life.

Abstract

IT has been stated and apparently accepted aa a fact that some Graafian follicles do not lie latent in the ovary from birth until puberty, and it has been suggested by Waldeyer,l Beigel,2 and others that a process of ripening occurs, to be followed by atrophy and the formation of a kind of corpus luteum.The number of Graafian follicles contained in the ovaries at birth has been estimated at 70,000, and all observers are agreed that there are considerably less in the ovaries a t puberty.The actual figures referred to must be viewed with some scepticism, because the enumeration of the Graafian follicles in an ovary cannot be a matter of any certainty, and there must be a large margin for errors of observation.However this may be, there is not the slightest vestige of a doubt that large numbers of Graafian follicles do disappear between birth and puberty.On the other hand, very few, if any, new follicles are formed after birth; sections of the ovaxies of new-born children very seldom show ova and follicles in process of formation.While the disappearance of Graafian follicles is accepted by all, the amount of literature actually bearing on this point is surprisingly 1