Thread by @solveig_hanson

What are ovaries made of? & what do they produce?

Authors of 17th century midwifery books had many ideas about internal ‘stones’ or ‘testicles.’ John Pechey argued that the round protrusions on ovaries were eggs “analogous to those of Fowl”

#EarlyModernPeriod🩸1/5

Pechey called these bumps/protrusions ‘bladders’ arguing that they were, in fact, eggs: “if you press [the bladders]..nothing will pass out of them; therefore.. they are truly Eggs..the Stones [ovaries]..are indeed an Ovarium, wherein these eggs are nourished” 2/5

“If you boyl these Eggs [they] will have the same..taste & consistency with the white of birds eggs, & their..wanting shells is of no moment; for Birds eggs have need of a shell because they..are exposed to external injuries; but these..have no need of other fence than the Womb”

What he calls the ‘bladders’ of the ovaries, we know to be follicles - fluid-filled sacs that carry &, stimulated by hormones, may eventually release a mature egg.

Here’s a picture from Brittanica Kids to show what I mean 4/5

Counting the ‘bladders,’ Pechey estimated that a pair of ovaries might have around 20 eggs. We know this number to be far greater because, with a microscope, we can see primordial (young) follicles invisible to the naked eye. You can see them here: histology.leeds.ac.uk/female/FRS_ova…