A complete handbook of midwifery for midwives and nurses / by J.K. Watson.

  • Watson, J. K. (James Kenneth), 1929-
Date:
[1914]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A complete handbook of midwifery for midwives and nurses / by J.K. Watson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    41/384 (page 21)
    PART II. MENSTRUATION, CONCEPTION, AND NATURAL PREGNANCY. CHAPTER III. OVULATION AND MENSTRUATION. Considered from the point of view of the activity of otherwise of the organs of generation or reproduction, the life history of the female is divisible into certain fairly well-marked epochs. There is in the first place the period of childhood which passes into that of puberty or adolescence. This gradually merges into the stage of nubility when a woman becomes fitted to marry. This stage closes with the cessation of reproductive activity. We are at present concerned with but one of these periods, namely, that of puberty. There are certain changes which take place at this time; for example, there is a specially marked development of the throat and chest, the breasts become fuller and more rounded, and there is also an enlargement of the pelvis. These outward signs are combined with certain internal changes affecting especi- ally the ovaries and the uterus, and these changes we shall now discuss under the terms ovulation and menstruation. We have seen that it is the function of the ovaries to produce ova; these are contained in cavities termed ovisacs. The ovisacs, which are also known as Graafian follicles, are scattered through the ovary; sometimes an ovisac contains more than one ovum, but usually each ovisac contains but one. The smallest are nearest the surface of the ovary, the larger are deeper in the organ. When the ovary becomes functionally active some of the