The development of the corpus luteum from the ruptured follicle has been the subject of a very large number of memoirs. Of these the most important have been summarised by Van der Stricht (1912) up to 1912 and more recently by Hill and Gatenby (1926) and Corner (1919), so that no useful purpose would be served by recapitulating in detail the controversial discussions contained in them. Many of the older papers are not based on a complete series of early stages of early stages of corpora lutea, since either the material was not available, or else the writers were unable to diagnose accurately the time of œstus. Sobotta (1890, 1897), Cohn (1903), Marshall (1904, 1925), and van der Stricht 91912), however, drew their conclusions from a series of accurately dated ovaries, as have more recent workers (Cornern 1919; Drips, 1919; Hill and Gatenby, 1926; Kurashige, 1927; Long and Evans, 1922; and Watrin, 1924). It is now generally agreed-and has been shown conclusively in the work of Hill and Gatenby (1926)-that the lutein cells are formed by the enlargement of the follicullar epithelium. The fate of the theca interna cells, which surround the mature follicle prior to ovulation, is still a matter of dispute, and the problem is complicated by histological species differences. There seems no reasonable doubt, however, that these elements take part in the formation of the corpus luteum, since, in numerous cases, the typical fat containing cells, closely associated with the vascular connective tissue, can be distiguished among the follicular lutein cells after ovulation. It remains to be decided whether or not they persist as functional elements, and retain their individuality.
Die Follikelatresie während der Schwangerschaft, insbesondere die Hypertrophie und Hyperplasie der Theca interna-Zellen (Theca-Luteïnzellen) und ihre Beziehungen zur Corpus luteum-Bildung