Reproductive organs

“ Reproductive Organs.—Leptoplana is hermaphrodite, and, as in most hermaphrodites, the reproductive organs are complicated. The male organs are the first to ripen, but this does not appear to prevent an overlapping of the periods of maturity of the male and female products, so that when the eggs are being laid, the male organs are, apparently, still in a functional state. ”

“ We have seen that many animals pass through a stage where the reproductive organs are not yet differentiated into male and female, while in some there is a temporary stage where the outer parts of the organ produce ova and the inner parts sperms. ”

“ Without the Ovaries there would be no ova or eggs, and without the ova there would be possible no reproductive purposes, and therefore no office for the sex organs at all, for reproduction is the fundamental office, function, and purpose of the entire sexual organism. ”

“ Man and woman are, however, distinguished one from the other, not only by differences in their reproductive organs, but by other qualities as well, some of these being bodily, others mental. Such distinctive characters are spoken of as secondary sexual characters, in contradistinction to the primary sexual characters, the reproductive organs. Our terminology would, perhaps, be more exact if we were to regard the reproductive glands alone, the testicles and the ovaries, as primary sexual characters; including the rest of the genital organs among the secondary sexual characters. ”

“ At every pregnancy, the ovaries share in the more abundant nutrition of all the reproductive organs, due to the general dilatation of the intrapelvic vessels which accompanies this process; hence the ovaries become larger, richer in lymph, and therefore softer, the cellular elements increase in size, and perhaps also in number, and it is readily conceivable 587that in such ovaries the cellular elements are able for a longer time to resist the induration and the new formation of connective tissue which occur at the climacteric. ”

“ The reproductive organs of the queen consist, first, of two large bags, one on each side of the abdomen, and called ovaries, in which the eggs are generated. When mature, these eggs pass by a tube from each ovary to a common duct, on one side of which is found a small yellow vesicle, called the spermatheca. - 123 - On examination under the microscope, this is found to be filled with a viscous fluid, in which, with a lens of high power, may be seen moving thousands of spermatozoa derived from the drone. ”

“ The female sex organs, also called the reproductive or generative organs, are divided into internal and external. The internal are the most important and consist of: the ovaries, Fallopian tubes, uterus [34] or womb, and vagina. The external sex organs of the female are: the vulva, hymen, and clitoris. Among the external organs are also generally included the mons Veneris and the breasts or mammary glands. ”

“ How mothers in the lower and higher forms of life differ.—Among the higher animals, the eggs are formed by ovaries, just as in the case of plants and the lower animals. Here we find another important addition to the female organs of sex. As soon as the egg is formed by the ovary it passes, by means of a duct called the fallopian tube, into a pear-shaped vessel called the uterus, or womb. Here, if the egg is fertilized by the male substance, it becomes attached to the wall of the womb. ”

“ In order to be fertile, that is, to be able to conceive and give birth to a living child, the woman's external and internal genital organs must be normal, her ovaries must produce healthy ova, and there must be no obstruction on the way, so that the ova and the spermatozoa can meet. The mucous membrane of the womb must also be healthy, so that when the impregnated ovum gets attached to the womb it may develop there without any trouble, and not become diseased or poorly nourished and cast off. ”

“ It is the germ vitalizing organ and the most essential part of the generative apparatus. The ovary is not only an organ for the formation of the ova, but is also designed for their separation when they reach maturity. ”

“ On grounds like these it would appear that the uterus holds the first place among the organs destined for generation; for the testicles are made to produce semen, the semen is for the purposes of intercourse, and coition itself, or the emission of the semen, is instituted by nature that the uterus may be fecundated and generation result. ”

“ During embryological development the fertilized ovum—consisting of two fused fragments of this germinal substance—gives rise to a host of ordered and marshalled cells, which are divisible into two groups: the one forms the body with its muscles, bones, glands, digestive system, skin, sense-organs, nerve-centres, and so forth; the other forms a reserve store of germinal substance, from which are derived the ova and sperms. The former take no direct share in reproduction; they are off the line of continuous descent; they die without issue. ”

“ The primary distinction of sex resides in the essential organs of reproduction (q.v.) . An organism that contains the germinal tissue or mass of tissue known as the testis, and producing the sexual cells known as spermatozoa, is a male; an organism containing the tissue which produces ova is known as a female; one producing both ova and spermatozoa is a true hermaphrodite; and one producing neither, if it belong to the sexual generation, is known as a neuter, although neuters are for the most part incomplete females. ”

“ The action of the cilia, under the stimulus of the sperm, seems to be from without, inward. Even if a minute particle of sperm, less than a drop, be left upon the margin of the external genitals of the female, it is sufficient in amount to impregnate, and can be carried, by help of these cilia, to the ovaries.
6. CONCEPTION.—After intercourse at the proper time the liability to conception is very great. If the organs are in a healthy condition, conception must necessarily follow, and no amount of prudence and the most rigid precautions often fail to prevent pregnancy. ”

“ Much of the information accepted to-day is, of course, speculative, having been deduced from observations made upon the reproductive processes of lower mammals, since the youngest human ovum which has been discovered and examined was probably two weeks old. ”

“ In higher orders of animals, fecundation occurs internally, the conjunction of the sperm and germ cells requiring the conjugation of the male and female sexual organs. The sperm-cells of the male furnish the quickening principle, which sets in play all the generative energies, while the germ-cell, susceptible to its vivifying presence, responds with all the conditions necessary to evolution. The special laboratory which furnishes spermatic material is the testes, while the stroma of the ovaries contributes the germ-cell. ”

“ In very many viviparous animals the genital organs, that is, the uterus and spermatic vessels, are not always found presenting the same mode and course of action and structure; but as they are capable or not of conception, so changes take place, and to such an extent that the organs can hardly be recognized as the same. ”

“ As has already been said, this use of the sex organs, merely to produce progeny, and so insure a continuance of the race, is a quality that mankind shares with all the rest of the animal kingdom. In all essentials, so far as the material parts of the act are concerned, the beginnings of the new life in the human family differ not a whit from that of any other mammals. In each case the ovum is produced by the ovaries of the female, passes into the womb, is there met by the semen from the male, fertilized by the spermatozoa, and so the foetus gets its start. ”

“ The uterus undergoes remarkable changes. In the foetus, during the latter part of intra-uterine life, this organ grows very rapidly; but immediately after birth its growth is arrested, so that in a girl of nine it is little larger than in the new-born infant. During the period of puberal development, however, the growth of the organ is once more extremely rapid. ”

“ In higher forms of life the organs which are set apart for the production of ova or sperms become definite in position and definite in structure. Occasionally, as in the snail, the same organ produces both sperms and ova, but then generally in separate parts of its structure. ”

“ In these closely associated systems of blood-vessels, nutriment and oxygen diffuse from the blood of the mother into that of the embryo, and thus rapid growth is assured. The importance and far-reaching effect of this new modification in the old reproductive system cannot be over-estimated. The internal intra-uterine development of the young, and the mammalian habit of suckling them, far more than any other factors, have made man what he is. ”

“ It seems that in such women a more intense vitality animates the reproductive system, bringing about an earlier ripening of ova, a more favorable predisposition on the part of these ova to fertilization by the spermatozoa, a livelier manifestation of sexual sensibility, and a longer duration of ovarian functional activity. ”

“ We mean by this term the group of organs which are concerned in creating and nourishing a child until it is old enough to be born into the world.
The Female Generative Organs.—These organs are the womb or uterus, two ovaries, two fallopian tubes and the vagina. The womb or uterus is the "nest." It is about the size of and is shaped like a pear. It is hollow, however, though its walls are quite thick. The ovaries are about the size of a peach stone and lie at the side of the womb,—one on either side. The fallopian tubes connect the ovaries with the womb. ”

“ The development of reproductive cells in special glandular apparatus at the period of puberty, is evidently not peculiar to one sex, but is a physiological fact necessarily common to both. The peculiarity in the female consists in the greater degree of periodicity in the complete development of such cells, in the periodical congestions of a secondary organ, the uterus, and in the loss of blood effected by these. ”

“ DEVELOPMENT.—The ovaries develop with the growth of the female, so that finally at the period of puberty they ripen and liberate an ovum or germ vesicle, which is carried into the uterine cavity of the Fallopian tubes. ”

“ After the ovum has reached the womb it remains there for a period of about ten days, after which, if it is not fertilized during that time, it passes out of the womb into the vaginal passage, and so out of the body. But if, at any time after it is ripe for fertilization, that is, from the time it begins its journey from the ovaries to the womb, and while it is in the womb, the ovum is met by the male sperm, it is liable to become fertilized—conception is possible. ”

“ If no sexual intercourse has taken place nothing happens. The ovum dries up, or "dies," and either remains somewhere in the tube or womb or is removed from the latter with the menstruation, or mucous discharge. But if intercourse has taken place, thousands and thousands of the male germ cells or spermatozoa enter the uterus through its opening or external os, and begin to travel upward in search of the ovum. The spermatozoa are capable of independent motion, and they travel pretty fast. ”

“ If an ovum starts from the ovary and is not hindered, it will pass on through the uterus and the vagina into the world, and that is the end of it; but if, when the ovum starts from the ovary to make its way through the tube, the spermatozoa are deposited here at the mouth of the uterus, they will find their way up into the cavity, and if one meets an ovum and enters into it, a new life is begun. The ovum will now fasten itself to the walls of the uterus and grow into the little child. ”

“ When conception occurs, still more extensive changes ensue, the fertilized ovum becoming imbedded in the uterine mucous membrane, and the pregnant uterus, in shape and structure and in the respective relations of the body and neck of the organ, in the increasing distension of its veins and the increasing size of its nerves, becoming adapted to the important functions it has now to fulfil. When these have been fulfilled, and, parturition having taken place, the uterus is empty once more, the organ again adapts itself to altered circumstances by the process of involution. ”

“ The fertilized ovum makes a lodgment on the inner surface of the uterus or womb and begins immediately to absorb its nourishment from the maternal organism. It soon develops a heart and blood vessels so related to the blood vessels of the mother that throughout its intra-uterine existence the mother's blood supplies the [20] growing child all of the substance that is built up into bone, muscle, brain and glands, preparing the young child to come into the world a living, breathing, sentient organism. ”

“ A spot on the external surface of an organism grows more rapidly than contiguous spots, and forms a tubercle which grows into a bud, assumes the form and structure of the parent, and finally separates. In the next grade the budding is internal, from a special organ simulating an ovary, though not a true ovary, as in aphides. Finally, in parthenogenesis we have a perfect ovary forming true ova and perfect embryo without fertilization or coöperation of the sperm-cell. ”

“ As we rise in the scale of organization, animals are more completely developed, and greater economy is displayed in their preservation. The germ passes from the ovary into an organ prepared for its reception and growth, to which, after fecundation, it becomes attached, and where it remains until sufficiently developed to maintain respiratory life. This organ is called the womb, or uterus, and is peculiar to most mammalia. This mode of reproduction is termed viviparous generation. ”