Abstract
I found that the introduction of foreign bodies into the uterine cavity approximately six days after ovulation leads to a rapid transformation of the whole uterine mucosa of the guinea-pig into a maternal placenta. Within 5 or 6 days an extraordinary increase in the size of the uterus takes place; this is followed by a period in which the pressure upon the newly formed placental tissue enclosed within the uterine muscle wall becomes so great that autolysis sets in and within a few days most of the placental tissue has been transformed into a brownish fluid.
In these experiments no ovum had previously entered the uterine cavity, the Fallopian tubes having been ligatured very soon after copulation in each case. The introduction of small particles of paraffin, of a very thin glass rod, of the thinnest platinum wire will serve for this purpose; since the latter, however, is only in partial contact with the uterine mucosa, it is not as effective as the glass rod or the paraffin.
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