The Metabolism of Ovarian Hormones, Especially in Relation to the Growth of the Fertilized Ovum

The ova of the eutherian mammals grow and develop in the oviducts. The latter are, in certain phases of their activity, controlled by ovarian secretions. The nature of the tubal and uterine response to ovarian hormone stimulation has been the subject of intensive and continuing research. The extent to which the ova are involved in this ovary-oviduct relationship has received scant attention in spite of the fact that the primary result and, for purposes of reproduction, the apparent design of this relationship is the ensuring of optimum conditions for the development of the fertilized egg. It is of course possible that the ova living freely in the fluid medium of the oviducts are independent organisms until the time of implantation. Their implantation is normally dependent upon the development of a progestational endometrium, and continuous fetal growth requires an adequate supply of ovarian hormones to the uterus. But the straightforward findings...