Each ovary is invested by a layer of perito neum derived from the posterior lamina of the broad ligament, to which the ovary is thus attached by a kind of mesentery.
Besides this indirect connection with the uterus, through the intervention or the broad ligament, the ovary has also another and more direct attachment by the aid of its own proper ligament (ligamentunt ovarii), which serves to bind it more securely to the uterus. (Fig. 368. m.) The ovary is further connected at its outer extremity to the mouth of the Fallopian tube by one of the processes of the pavilion, which serves to keep the organ always in close proximity to its excretory duct (fig. 368. n).
The distance which intervenes between the ovary and the uterus varies considerably on each side, not only in different individuals, but also in the same subject, where it is very rarely found to be equal ; the right ovary, so far as my observations have gone, being farther removed than the left in the proportion of nine ont of twelve instances.
During pregnancy, the ovary suffers fre quent changes of position. As the uterus ex pands, it carries the ovary along with it into the abdominal cavity, at the same time the relative situation of these parts is mate rially altered, the fundus uteri gradually ex panding and risinr, above the former level of the ovaries, whirst the latter appear to be bound down more closely to the side of the uterus, until at term their position is usually found to be below the centre of that organ.
— The ovary is com posed of, 1st, protecting parts, or tunics ; 2nd, a parenchyma, or stroma, in which are imbedded ; 3rd, the proper secreting struc tures, in the form of closed sacs or vesicles, containing the ova; 4th, vessels and nerves.
1. The Protecting Parts or Twales. —These are two in number, and correspond precisely, both in structure and derivation, with the analogous coverings of the testis.
The peritoneal covering (fig. 371. A) consti tutes the outermost of these coats,and consists of the layer of peritoneum derived from thepos terior lamina of the broad ligatnent, which serves to connect the ovary with the parts adjacent. Except at its base, the ovary is so closely in vested by this peritoneal lamina, that no ef fort with the scalpel will suffice to detach it from the tunic beneath. This intimate union,
however, of the two coats ceases at the base of the ovary, where a white, irrerrular, and somewhat elevated line is observedbon either side, extending in a horizontal direction, and rising higher on the anterior than on the pos terior surface of the gland. In its inthnate texture, this covering or the ovary differs in no respect from the peritoneum covering the viscera generally.
The tunica albuginea, or tunica propria, (fig.
371. BB) constitutes the special or proper cover ing of the ovary. It serves to give form and soli dity to the organ, and to protect the ovisacs and ova from injury. This coat has a nearly uniform thickness of in and forms a complete investment for the ovary, except at its lower border, where the fibres are either very thinly scattered and interlaced, or are altogether wanting, leaving a longitudinal space, termed the hilum or vascular fissure, by which the vessels and nerves enter the organ. This space measures 3"'-4"' in width, and extends along the entire base of the ovary.
The tunica albuginea has been commonly regarded as a more condensed portion of the strorna, or parenchyma, of the ovary ; but from this it is readily distinguished, not only by its clear white colour, and dense and almost cartilaginous hardness, but also by its micro scopic characters. On account of its extreme toughness, this tunic is not very easily sepa rable into fragments sufficiently minute tbr microscopic examination. But when small portions have been so obtained, the margins of the fragments exhibit numerous close-lying and irregularly arranged fibres of developed connective tissue, projecting from a dense, structureless matrix interspersed with gra nules, which serves to connect the fibres to gether, and to which apparently is due, in a great measure, the peculiar toughness of this membrane, while its remarkable whiteness is explained by the much smaller number of blood-vessels that it contains, as compared with the general parenchyma of the ovary. The tunica albuginea, therefore, is not merely a more condensed form of the ovarian strorna, but appears to result from a development of tissues which exist in the stroma in an ele mentary or embryonic form, as well as from a more close conjunction and blending of those tissues.