On the Nerve Supply of the Ovary in Formosan Macaque

Abstract

The bundles of ovarian nerves proper of Formosan macaque are much smaller in size and number than those in man, but consist of a large number of fine vegetative fibres and a smaller number of myelinated sensory fibres quite as in the latter. Besides, blood vessels, especially, the arteries, are naturally provided with perivascular plexus.
The small nerve bundles entering the medulla ovarii form the medullar plexus, which is also much smaller in scale than that in the human ovary. Fine branches are sent out from the plexus into the cortex, where they again to spread out in many directions.
The vegetative nerve fibres ending in the vascular walls in the ovary form preterminal fibres and finally end in closed nets (STÖHR's terminal reticula) as such fibres always do.
The vegetative fibres coming into the ovarian cortex similarly form terminal reticula which innervated not only the connective tissue cells of the stroma ovarii but also some egg follicles of different stages of development.
The primary follicles supplied with terminal reticula are as severely limited in number in Formosan macaque as in man. The reticula here run along the outside surface of the follicle cell layer but none was found to penetrate it. Often something spuriously resembling thick nerve fibres were observed in the egg cells in some primary follicels, but I believe that these are artefacts and am inclined to disagree with KNOCHE who saw nervous elements in similar figures.
A few vegetative fibres were found running also into the thecae of growing follicles, as observed in the human ovary. The terminal reticula, in which these fibres end, do not penetrate into the follicle cell layer, as do those in the human and the canine counterparts.
The atretic follicles of Formosan macaque seem to be devoid of vegetative fibres. Into the corpora lutea, however, a small number of vegetative fibres were found runningin and ending there in terminal reticula. Terminal reticula were found formed in the hilus ovarii, especially, around the rete ovarii in conspicuous formation in it, as well as in the medulla.
The terminations of the sensory fibres in the Formosan macaque's ovary are found in the medulla and more abundant in the cortex, and not rarely in the hilus ovarii too. The stem fibres, after losing their myelin sheaths, sometimes end without branching, sometimes branched out into 3-5 terminal fibres and sometimes again in rather complex branched terminations with more numerous terminal fibres.
These terminations are simpler than those in the human ovary but much more complex than those in the ovary of dog. The terminal fibres of such terminations often run long winding of looped courses while undergoing frequent change in size and mostly spread over considerably wide areas before ending sharply.