DR. PURPLE 
ON THE 
COKPUS LUTEUM CORPUS LUTEUM 
ITS VALUE AS EVIDENCE OF CONCEPTION, 
AND 
ITS RELATION TO LEGAL MEDICINE; 
WITH THE 
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TRUE AND FALSE, 
BEING AN ATTEMPT TO RECONCILE THE CONFLICTING OPINION OF WRITERS 
BY THE RECENT DISCOVERIES IN THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE OVARIES. 
SAMUEL S. PURPLE, M.D., 
MEMBER OP THE NEWYORK PATHOLOGICAL SOCIETY, BTC. 
REPUBLISHED FROM THE NEWYORK JOURNAL OF MEDICINE. 
NEWYORK: 
J. & H. G. LANGLEY, 8 ASTOR HOUSE. 
1846. CORPUS LUTEUI 
Writers on legal medicine make but little mention of the difficulties 
that lie in the way of the formation of a correct opinion on the evidence 
afforded by a corpus luteum. Most anatomists who have attempted the 
description of the ovaries and their functions, have made mention of true 
and false corpora lutea, but give not the distinguishing mark between the 
two ; writers on jurisprudence have taken but a casual notice of this— 
hence have arisen the difficulties of which we have just spoken. 
The recent discoveries in the physiology of the ovaries not only tend, 
but actually do, when fully understood, clear up the mist that has been 
thrown around this subject j and the discordant opinions of anatomists, 
and writers on this branch of medico-legal science, may now be 
reconciled without the least difficulty. By many anatomists it has 
been supposed that every yellow body found in the ovaries was a cor- 
pus luteum, the result of conception. This great mistake has arisen 
from the want of a true and correct knowledge of the functions of the 
ovaries, for it was not till within a few years past that their true func- 
tions were ascertained. 
In the 6th volume of this Journal we gave a paper on menstruation, in 
which we proved (or attempted to prove) the true nature of this func- 
tion, and its connection with, or dependence upon, the ovaries. In the 
present paper we shall attempt to show how far the principles set forth 
in that paper tend to remove the difficulties which lie in the way of 
forming a correct opinion of the value of the corpus luteum as an evi- 
dence of conception. 
Haller* believes, Ist, that “ conception never happened without the 
formation of a corpus luteum and 2d, “ that the corpus luteum is 
never found in virgin animals, but is the effect of impregnation.” Of 
the truth of these two propositions there can be no doubt at the present 
time. Previous to the late discoveries of the true functions of the 
ovaries, many talented and conscientious writers doubted the truth of 
Haller’s views, for in examining the ovaries of virgins they frequently 
found yellow bodies—bodies which from the circumstances of the cases 
could not have been the effect of impregnation—hence have arisen the 
many conflicting opinions of the value of the corpus luteum as an evi- 
dence of conception. 
Haighton,f from numerous experiments which “ bear every mark of 
* Haller, Elem. Phys,, vol. 8. 
t Bostock’s Element. Syst. Phys., 3d ed. note to p. 657. Purple on the Corpus Luteum. 
4 
accuracy and fidelity,” came to the conclusion that wherever corpora 
lutea are found “ they furnish incontestable proof” of previous impreg- 
nation. Cruikshank,* W. Hunter,| BaiHie,J Meckel,§ Montgomery,|j 
and many recent authors, have come to the same conclusion. Blurnen- 
bach,lT Osiander,** Sir E. Home,|| Blundell,and some few recent 
writers believe that u corpora lutea are not the necessary result of im- 
pregnation.” Bostock,§§ in order to reconcile these conflicting opinions, 
supposed that “ the evolution of the vesicle (the vesicle of DeGraaf), 
and the production of the corpus luteum are, in all cases, essentially 
dependent upon the actions of the female, and that the office of the 
male does not commence until after this previous step of the progress.” 
Had Mr. Bostock been fully acquainted with what now is generally 
believed to be the true function of the ovaries, he would not, we think, 
for a moment have entertained, much more put forth, such a supposi- 
tion. Indeed, there would have been no necessity for it—facts, truths, 
are the great lever of the inductive system. With the chain incomplete, 
or broken, we wander in the mist of hypothesis, but when once com- 
plete, we are led with undeviating certainty to correct conclusions. 
We have said that every yellow body found in the ovaries was not a 
corpus luteum, and we are compelled to believe this from numerous 
and repeated post-mortems made many times with special reference to 
the elucidation of this subject. Every one who has made the ovaries 
of the human female a particular object of study, must have been forci- 
bly struck with the different appearance of yellow spots or bodies found 
in them. 
In order that we may be as clearly understood as possible, we shall 
divide, according to the practice of most writers (although the division 
is not in truth as correct as might be), all yellow bodies found in these 
organs into true and false corpora lutea. By true we shall mean, a pe- 
culiar yellow body found always after conception. By false we shall 
mean those yellow bodies, or spots, found in these organs under various 
circumstances, apparently connected or not with conception. It might 
have proved interesting and perhaps profitable, had our limits permitted, 
to have given an account of the literary history of this subject, with ex- 
tracts from some of the older writers, but we forbear, and with pleasure 
refer our readers to a series of valuable papers by R. Paterson, M.D., of 
Leith,Hl] which may be looked upon as the most valuable in the profession. 
As much diversity of opinion exists as to the appearance of the true corpus 
luteum, we shall, before proceeding farther, give the general character- 
istics of this body in the human female. A more vivid and correct de- 
scription cannot, in our opinion, be given, than the one found in Dr. 
Montgomery’s work,THT which, although rather lengthy, we have thought 
* Phil. Trans., 1797. 
t Hunter’s Anat. Grav. Uter., 1775. 
t Baillie’s edit, of the same, 1794. 
§ Me el’s Gen. Descr. and Path. Anat., Amer. ed., vol. 3 
tl Montgomery on Pregnancy, Lon. 1837. 
IT Blumenbach, Spec. Phys. Compar., 1788. 
** Meckel’s Anat., ed. cit., vol 3. 
tt Sir E. Home’s Lectures, Comp. Anat. 
ft Blundell, Phys. Res., 1824, Lond. 
§§ Rostock’s Elem. Syst. Phys., p. 658, edit. 3, 1836. 
1111 Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vols. 53, 4, 5, and 6. 
TTTI Montgomery on Pregnancy, Amer. ed., p. 149, et seq. Purple on the Corpus Luteum, 
5 
best to copy. He says, “If we examine the ovaries of a pregnant 
woman, especially if her conception has been recent, we observe, that 
the one which has supplied the germ differs, in several remarkable par- 
ticulars, from its fellow of the opposite side; it strikes the eye at 
once as being larger, rounder, and more vascular ; to the touch it feels 
fuller and softer : we perceive further, that this increase of size of the 
one is not so much the result of an increased development of the whole 
substance, or body of the organ, as of the addition to it, at one part of 
a tumor, projecting more or less from its natural outline, as we find 
in the eye, w'here the circumference of the cornea projects from the out- 
line of the globe, the segment of a smaller circle being superimposed 
on that of a greater. When we examine the protuberant part, of the 
impregnated ovary, we find that the increased vascularity is principally 
confined to its limits, where we perceive, creeping on or near the surface, 
a few small, thread-like, and convoluted vessels, and we generally find the 
color of this part quite different from that of the rest of the organ ; appear- 
ing as a deep, or dull, brownish yellow, seen through a slightly reddish 
medium; and somewhere on the surface of the prominence, we observe 
a distinct cicatrix or appearance as of a rent imperfectly united ;* to a 
small extent around which the peritoneal coat appears as if abraded, or 
removed by slight superficial ulceration ; and here it is that the twining 
vessels just mentioned are most distinctly observable. 
“ This is the point through which the ovulum escapes from the ovary, 
but it is almost invariably closed up, and impervious, except it happens 
to be examined within a few days after the passage of the germ. The 
external changes by which w'e recognize the existence of the corpus 
luteum in the human ovary, are most obvious in the earlier periods of 
pregnancy, w’hile there is, as yet, the central cavity, and a degree of 
vascularity and vital action present; these afterwards subside, the cavity 
begins to close in, and the corpus luteum losing somewhat of its size, 
the increased bulk of the ovary is proportionally reduced also. Hav- 
ing satisfied ourselves of the presence of the external characters, we pro- 
ceed to examine the internal structure ; in order to do which we should 
make a section of the ovary, carrying the knife through the centre of the 
prominent part, so as to divide the ovary into two longitudinal sections, by 
which we expose the corpus luteum. In form and size, it is almost always 
more or less oval fabiform, with its longer axis varying from four to 
five-eighths of an inch, and the shorter from three to four-eighths ; its 
thickness is generally less than its breadth. Thus it occupies from a 
fourth to one half of the whole area of the ovary, according to the pe- 
riod of gestation at which it is examined, the size being generally in the 
inverse proportion of the time elapsed since conception.! 
“ Its structure is obviously and strikingly glandular, having a lobulated 
appearance, with slight convolutions, resembling not a little the section 
of a human kidney or, as some one has said, it is like a miniature of 
the particular section of the brain called by anatomists centrum ovale. 
* “ Cavam cicatricem referens, qualis ab ulcusculo male curato remanere solent.” 
—Noortwk. 
t This last remark, we are sorry to say, is not in accordance with the result of 
our own investigation, for we were loth to believe, until obliged to, that this accu- 
rate description in all other respects, was incorrect in this particular. Farther on 
in this paper we shall give the result of our own researches on the development of 
this body —S. S. P. 
I t “ Glandulanum conglomeratanum adinstar*”—De Gmaf, p. 177* 6 
Purple on the Corpus Lute urn* 
It is very vascular, small vessels being frequently visible without any 
preparation ; but if fine colored injections have been previously thrown 
into one of the branches of the spermatic arteries going to the ovary, 
the vessels of the corpus luteum will be filled with the coloring matter, 
and are to be seen running from its circumference towards its centre. 
The injection will also pass readily and freely into the little serpentine 
vessels on the surface of the ovary, over the corpus luteum, and around 
the rent in the external covering ; and not unfrequently some of the in- 
jection is found extravasated into the central cavity, especially at early 
periods of conception. 
“ Its color is, as its name implies, a dull yellow, very similar to that of 
the bully coat of the blood, exhibiting generally,* when recently ex- 
posed, a slightly reddish tinge, iex jiava rubens.’f Its centre exhibits 
either a cavity, or a radiated or branching white line, according to the 
period at which the examination is made ; if within the first three or 
four months after conception, we shall, I believe, always find the cavity 
still existing, and of such a size as to be capable of containing a grain of 
wheat at least, and very often of much greater dimensions ; this cavity 
is surrounded by a strong, white cyst (the inner coat of the Graafian 
vesicle), and as gestation proceeds, the opposite parts of this approxi- 
mate, and at length close together, by winch the cavity is completely 
obliterated, and in its place there remains an irregular white line, whose 
form is best expressed by calling it radiated, or stelliform. 
“ Of this latter appearance it ought to be observed here, that it is visi- 
ble as long as any distinct trace of the corpus luteum remains, and 
forms one of the most essential characters, distinguishing this body from 
every other that might be confounded with it.” 
We owe an apology to our readers for making so lengthy a quotation, 
but a clearer description, it seems to us, cannot be given in justice to 
the subject. True, we might have said that its size was that of a 
cherry ; its structure in appearance glandular; its color, as its name 
implies, yellow, in the early stages vascular to a greater degree than 
later ; possessing in its early stages a cavity, at a later period a cicatrix. 
Such a description might have answered for those acquainted with 
the subject, but to a majority of the profession it would have been hardly 
intelligible, much less sufficient for a correct guide in a post mortem 
'examination. 
In speaking of the development of the corpus luteum, Dr. Montgomery 
gives it as a general rule, that the size of the body is “ generally in the 
inverse proportion of the time since conception.” In ten cases which 
we have examined in reference to this, four of which were at or near 
the fourth month of pregnancy, three at or near the seventh, two at the 
second, and one at the full period of gestation ; the greatest size was 
found to be at the fourth month. Whether this is in accordance with 
the result of the investigation of other writers, lam unable to say. Dr. 
Montgomery supposes the size to be governed by the size of the Graafian 
vesicle. We can easily see, a priori, that this might be the case. 
After delivery it rapidly disappears, and generally by the end of the 
.fifth month all distipxt traces are lost. We have not been able to dis- 
cover any traces of it later than the fourth month, although we have 
* The reddish tinge is peculiar to the first three or four months of pregnancy, 
after which time it rapidly disappears.—S. S. P. 
t Haller, “Ex luteo rubens.” Baer, “ E rubella flava.”—Roederer. Purple on the Corpus Luteum. 
7 
■often examined the ovaries of females to ascertain this point. Dr. 
Paterson thinks he has discovered distinct remains of it as late as the 
seventh month after delivery, at the full period of gestation; Dr. Mont- 
gomery as late as the fifth. 
Besides the yellow body which has just been described, there are 
others, a description of which it becomes necessary to give in this place. 
All who have examined the ovaries of the human female, must have 
noticed small yellow spots, or bodies varying in size and the degree of 
color, in the substance of these organs. These are the bodies which 
have given rise to the great diversity of opinion that exists in the profes- 
sion, on the value that ought to be attached to the corpus luteum, as an 
evidence of conception. These bodies owe their origin to various 
causes. Thus, at each menstrual period, when the rupture of a Graafian 
vesicle takes place, the cavity left by the escape of the fluid and the 
ovum is immediately filled with blood ; the red globules being soon ab- 
sorbed, the fibrin is left as the result. This remains a greater or less 
length of time, varying according to circumstances. This is the body 
that Mr. Ritchie has denominated “ corpora menstrualia,” a name, by 
the by, to which we can see no reasonable objection—and this is the 
body which is most liable to be confounded with the true corpus luteum 
in its early stages only, as we shall see in the subsequent part of this 
paper. Again, inflammation of the serous, or inner membrane, lining 
the Graafian vesicle, by which lymph is cast out, causing an apparent 
(at least) hypertrophy of the vesicle ; effusion of blood, in a greater or 
less degree, into the proper substance, the structure of the ovary, consti- 
tuting the true apoplexy of the organ ; cysts or cavities filled with a 
fatty substance of a yellow color ; have been described as false corpora 
lutea. On examining the ovaries we frequently have found a small, 
hard point, like a tubercle, sometimes of a yellow, at others of a grey 
color, having the consistence of cartilage. Whether this is in any way 
connected with a degeneration of a Graafian vesicle, we are not able to 
say. This has been pointed out to us as a virgin corpus luteum. These 
bodies, which we have just described, vary from one to three lines or 
more, in size. Those which arise from the rupture of a Graafian ve- 
sicle, are sometimes larger, and are irregular in shape, sometimes oval, 
at others round, and at others of a square or triangular shape ; to the 
naked eye they possess no blood-vessels. When a very fine, minute in- 
jection is thrown into the spermatic arteries, and completely fills the 
minute vessels of the ovaries, it does not enter into these bodies ; hence 
Dr. Montgomery makes this one of the marks of distinction between true 
and false. From the want of free vascular connection, they do not possess 
that peculiar appearance which characterizes the true, and which Hun- 
ter terms “ tender and friable, like glandular flesh.” 
The bodies which we have just described, together with the cicatrices 
which are always seen on the surface of the ovaries of females who have 
menstruated, have very often been mistaken for true corpora lutea, and 
described as such by lecturers, and even by “ writers on Forensic Medi- 
cine.”* They possess none of the characteristics of the corpus luteum 
which is the result of conception, unless it may be the yellow color, and 
even this is not always the'color of the true corpus luteum ; for we have 
frequently seen it of a reddish brown. Again, in the false body the yellow- 
* Smith’s Principles of Forensic Medicine, p. 489, edit. 1821. Purple on the Corpus Luteum. 
ish matter is contained within the inner membrane of the Graafian vesi- 
cles, whilst that of the true body is formed between the two membranes. 
On this point, however, there is still some dispute. Baer,# Valentine, 
and others, believe it to be the inner membrane of the Graafian vesicle 
in a thickened state. Dr. Lee, of London,t is of the opinion “ that it is 
formed around the outer surface of both these coats (the outer and inner 
coats) of the Graafian vesicle, and that the stroma of the ovarium is in im- 
mediate contact with the external surface of the yellow matter.” While 
De Graaf,§ Montgomery, Paterson, and most of modern writers 
believe, as we stated above, that it is formed between the two mem- 
branes. The great difficulty that exists in determining this point arises 
from the w7ant of a sufficient number of examinations in the early periods 
of pregnancy. Unfortunately for the elucidation of this subject, these 
do not frequently occur, and when they do, unless it be at a later period 
than the third week, we are very liable to confound them with the con- 
dition that is known to exist during the flow of the catamenia. We have 
not had it in our power to examine any case earlier than at or near the 
second month of pregnancy. Dr. Paterson, in the Edinburgh Medical 
and Surgical Journal, Vol. 1., for 1840, gives the history of a number of 
cases in which (he supposes) conception took place only a few weeks 
previous to death; but as the precise period of time is doubtful, in the 
cases mentioned, we are led to place but little dependence upon the 
condition pointed out as peculiar to the first three or four weeks of preg- 
nancy. The case of Drs. Reid and Thomson, given by Dr. P., may be 
looked upon as more definite. The woman had been married six weeks 
previous to death. “ The last menstruation ceased on the 24th of May, 
1838. Her husband, a laborer, visited her at the end of every week, 
and her death took place on the Ist of July, that is, five weeks and one 
day after the first visit of her husband, succeeding to her last menstrua- 
tion. The uterus was nearly one half larger than in the unimpregnated 
condition. The left ovary presented the most perfect specimen of a 
corpus luteum in the process of formation, which I have ever seen in the 
human female.” In the two cases which we examined, the first was 
that of a young woman Bet. about 20 years, who committed suicide by 
drowning. For rather more than two months she had been intimate 
with a young man, and for months previous to her death she had 
not been regular. The appearances I give as I find recorded in my notes 
taken at the time. The uterus near a third larger than natural, filled 
with a soft decidual membrane, and containing the ovum. Left ovary 
natural. Right presents an elevation or prominence of a purplish color ; 
over the surface can be seen numerous red, tortuous, thread-like lines, 
which seem to converge towards the summit of the prominence, at 
which point a small depression can be seen, having the appearance of an 
imperfectly united, ragged rupture ; in the centre of this is a small open- 
ing leading into the substance of the ovary. Upon cutting through the 
centre of this prominence, the body causing it was of a reddish brown 
color, four-eighths of an inch in length, and of an irregular oval shape, 
containing a cavity near an eighth of an inch in diameter, and lined with 
a smooth, dark red membrane. This possessed all the marks of a true 
* Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Jour., 1536. 
t Mediho-Chirur. Trans. Vol. XXII. 
j Graaf, de Mulierum Organ. General. Insen., Batav., 1672. 
$ Edin. Med. and Surg. Jour. Purple on the Corpus Luteum. 
9 
corpus luteum. The second case was examined July 17, 1846, by Dr. 
W. C. Parker and myself for Dr. Rawson, coroner. The young woman, 
set. 21 years, committed suicide by taking a large potion of arsenic. 
She stated to one of her most intimate relatives, about a month previous 
to death, that she had not been “ unwell” for a month, and that she was 
in the “ family way.” She was receiving the addresses of a young man, 
and was known not to have menstruated for two months. I give the 
appearance of the uterine organs as taken at the time;— Uterus a little 
larger than natural. Right ovary presented a number of cicatrices upon 
its surface, the left about one-third larger than the right, soft and more 
vascular. The increased size appears to be owing to a prominence of a 
dark purple color, having creeping over its surface a few bright red ves- 
sels. On the summit of this prominence is a small depression which 
leads to an opening, which will not, however, admit a small probe. On 
making a section of this prominence, a yellow vascular body is found, six 
lines in length and five in breadth, possessing a cavity lined with a smooth 
dark red surface. This body presents the appearance which Hunter 
terms u tender and friable, like glandular flesh.” This specimen was 
examined by Prof. J. B. Beck, of this city, who pronounced it at once 
to be a true corpus luteum, about two months from conception. 
We have given these two cases, thinking that they might throw some 
light upon the investigation of the early stages of this body. The other 
cases which we have, possess nothing peculiar in their appearance, and 
we, therefore, have thought best not to give them in detail. By way of 
contrast, we will now give the appearance of a false corpus luteum, the 
result of menstruation. The patient was known to have menstruated 
24 days previous to death. She was the mother of three children, the 
youngest eet. 6 years. She died suddenly from suffocation—was 32 
years old. On examination, the uterus was healthy and of natural size, 
as was also the left ovary, the surface of which presented numerous 
scars or cicatrices caused by menstruation. The right ovary natural in 
size ; the surface of this also was studded with a number of scars, and 
presented, when cut into, a brownish yellow body two-eighths of an 
inch in length, one eighth in breadth, and a little more than a line in 
thickness, having in the centre a red streak or line. This body was 
situated near the surface, and produced no enlargement or prominence ; 
immediately over it was a cicatrix. There did not appear to be any in- 
creased vascularity about the surrounding structure of the ovary. In a 
case which we examined on the 12th of May, 1846, for Dr. Rawson, 
coroner, through whose politeness we have been favored with the oppor- 
tunity of examining most of the cases from which the facts contained in 
this paper are made up, the woman had menstruated ten days previous 
to death. The peculiar yellow cast was not so well marked ; the 
absorption of the red globules of the blood, and the deposit of the color- 
ing matter, upon which it is said, by some, in part to depend, had not 
taken place. The cicatrix immediately over the body existed. There 
was no congestion in the surrounding structure. As we have said be- 
fore, when an examination is made within the first week, the opening 
leading to the vesicle filled with the effused blood will generally be 
found ; but there exists no yellow appearance—at least such is the result 
of our own investigation. 
From the cases, with the appearances, which we have given of the 
true and false corpora lutea, we think there can be but little difficulty in 10 
Purple on the Corpus Luteum.» 
distinguishing between the two, if we remember the prominent features 
which are characteristic of each even when taken separately, and the diag- 
nosis will be much more easy if a comparison be instituted. For instance, 
by way of recapitulation, in the true corpus luteum, which is the result 
of conception, the following are the prominent points. 
1. As to external form, being an increase in the size of the ovary when 
compared with its opposite, sometimes amounting to nearly one half, 
which seems like the addition of a portion to the substance of the ovary. 
The prominence of a dark color, varying from a deep red to a dark blue 
or purple. Upon the summit an excavation, or depression, leading to an 
opening into a cavity below (this last is the appearance in the early 
stages), and running over the surface a number of red tortuous lines. 
2. As to size and form. When cut into, varying according to the age 
from conception, generally from five to eight lines in length, being in 
form irregular, round or oval, and possessing a cavity or a stellated line 
or cicatrix. 
3. As to color, varying also according to the period examined, if 
previous to the third or fourth month, frequently of a reddish brown or 
of a light yellow—the centre lining the cavity of a dark red. If exa- 
mined towards the close of gestation, the color approaches a light or grey- 
ish yellow, having generally a white, radiated or stelliform line of a pearl 
color in the place of the cavity. We have noticed in one case at the 
full period a large cavity filled with a dark fluid, the cavity surrounded 
by the yellow matter about an eighth of an inch in thickness. 
4. As to structure—which appears to be glandular, resembling some- 
what a section of the human kidney, or that portion of the brain called 
by anatomists, centrum ovale. It is vascular, and capable of receiving a 
fine injection when thrown into the spermatic arteries. 
These may be said to be the leading features or characteristics of a 
true corpus luteum. 
Those of the false corpora lutea are 
1. The want of any elevation or enlargement of the ovary. 
2. The size, which may vary, being from that of a pea down to the 
size of a millet seed, when it appears like a spot in the substance of the 
ovary. 
3. The color, which is often of a dirty, at other times of a light yellow 
or grey color. It wants the glandular appearance and the central cavity 
lined by smooth membrane. 
4. In the fact of its not being capable of receiving an injection. Dr. 
Montgomery has given, as one of the characteristics, the absence of the 
external cicatrix. “ The external cicatrix,” says he, “is almost always 
wanting.” This is the case in those which arise from an enlarged Graa- 
fian vesicle, and by the subsequent absorption of the fluid, producing a 
puckered or shrivelled appearance ; but is not the case in those which 
arise from a ruptured Graafian vesicle during menstruation, which is by 
far the most common form of false corpora lutea. 
Having given the characteristics of the two, we come now to inquire 
how much value can be placed upon this body as an evidence of con- 
ception ? Various have been the opinions given to this inquiry. Much 
discussion and numerous investigations have been called forth, and, as 
stated in the commencement of this paper, conflicting and unsatisfactory 
has been the answer. As we stated before, Blumenbach, Osiander, Sir 
E. Home, Blundell, and a number of other writers, believed that no Purple on the Corpus Luteum. 
11 
dependence could be placed upon it; whilst Haller, Cruikshank, W. 
Hunter, Baillie, Meckel, Montgomery, Lee, Paterson, and others, be- 
lieve that it is proof positive of conception. Dr. Montgomery’s words 
are : “ If I may be allowed to add the result of my own observations, 
which have now been continued through a period of nearly ten years, 
during which time I have never omitted a single opportunity within 
my reach for examining the bodies of women of all ages, and under all 
the various circumstances of virginity, after intercourse, during gestation, 
and subsequent to delivery, at different periods from conception ; these 
opportunities having been afforded by more than one large hospital, as 
well as in private practice. I have also dissected hundreds of the infe- 
rior animals with reference to this point, and have in my museum 
preparations of ovaries exhibiting the corpus luteum in different condi- 
tions in the human female, and also in cows, mares, sheep, sows, goats, 
bitches, cats, hares, rabbits ; and my firm conviction is of the truth of 
both Haller’s propositions, viz:—that conception never happens without 
the production of a corpus luteum, and that the corpus luteum is never found 
in virgin animals, but is the effect of impregnation.” 
Dr- Lee says : “ From all the observations hitherto made upon the true 
corpus luteum, we may conclude that it is never formed but as a conse- 
quence of impregnation. The yellow oval-shaped substances found in 
the ovaries of women who have never been pregnant, are produced by 
morbid states of the Graafian vesicle, and are essentialy different in struc- 
ture.”* 
Dr. Paterson is of the opinion “ that a certain specific body (called 
the corpus luteum) is formed and left in the ovary after conception,’’j- 
different from all other bodies found in the ovary. 
Dr. GrossJ of Louisville, who, in company with Professor Parker 
(now of this city), has paid particular attention to this subject, is of the 
opinion that the researches together with the conclusions of Dr. Mont- 
gomery “ upon this subject are perfectly conclusive.” 
From the numerous examinations which we have made of the ovaries 
of human females, at all ages and under all conditions of health and dis- 
ease, during childhood, at puberty, before, during and after menstruation, 
at the various periods of gestation, and after deliver}', we are firmly of 
the belief that the true corpus luteum is an infallible sign of conception ; 
and that the great diversity of opinion which has been put forth relating 
to the value of this bod}' as an evidence of conception, has arisen from 
the want of a proper knowledge of the physiology of the ovaries, con- 
sequently confounding and calling all yellow bodies or spots corpora 
lutea. 
From what we have read of the writings of those who differ from 
this opinion, we can but believe that they have mistaken the true 
appearance of the corpus luteum, and hence have confounded, in their 
descriptions, the false with the true, either forgetting or not knowing that 
all yellow bodies are not true corpora lutea, and hence are in no way 
connected with the process of generation. 
By way of illustration, we would say that cases not unfrequently arise, 
in which it becomes a matter of the greatest importance to distinguish 
between a true and false corpus luteum ; and here it is that the practical 
* Medico-Chir. Trans., vol. 22; also Lee on Mid., Ist Am. Edit 
t Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Jour., vol. 2, 1841. 
J Gross’s Path. Anat,, 2d ed. 1846. 12 
Purple on the Corpus Luteum. 
bearings of our subject are seen. Take tbe case of the four* Edinburgh 
medical students. A prosecution was raised against four medical stu- 
dents, for disinterring the body of a lady in Glasgow. The body hap- 
pened to be so disfigured that it could not be identified by the relations. 
The ovaries, however, were examined, and it W'as reported that a true 
corpus luteum was found in one of them, which decided that they had 
not belonged to the lady in question, who was a virgin, and advanced in 
life. On the trial, great contradiction took place between the opinions 
of the medical witnesses, one half of whom asserted that the corpus 
luteum in question was a true corpus luteum, while the other half main- 
tained that it was not. The body of this individual was afterwards 
identified by a dentist, who produced a cast of the gums.” In the 
absence of the proof afforded by the dentist’s cast, it might have been 
of great assistance to the students, to have established the fact of the 
presence of a true corpus luteum, as this would, in evidence before the 
jury, be sufficient ground for the immediate discharge of the prisoners, 
the prosecution having shown or testified that she “ was a virgin and 
advanced in life.” 
The oft quoted case of Miss Burns| is still more clear and to the 
point. Charles Angus, Esq., of Liverpool, was, in the fall of 1808, tried 
at Lancaster, for the murder of Miss Burns, a female in his family. 
(Owing to its length we shall not give the case entire, only such as 
relates to our subject.) 
It appears from a review of testimony in the case that for some 
time previous to the death of Miss Burns, the attendants had noticed that 
she bad increased gradually in bulk, and had the appearance of being 
pregnant. A few days previous to her death, she appeared to suffer 
great pain ; she could not bear to be touched, and she was observed 
occasionally to hold fast with her hands to the end of the sofa on which 
she sat. The pains continued during the whole of Wednesday and 
Thursday, but on Friday morning (the day she died) they had gone off, 
and she could walk and appeared much smaller. She died in the course 
of the day. Upon dissection, the uterus was found enlarged, and capa- 
ble of holding a quart of fluid. The whole internal surface was bloody ; 
near the fundus was a well defined circular space, of a darker color than 
the rest, about four inches in diameter; this space was rough, and a 
small fragment of the placenta remained adhered to it. There W'ere blood- 
vessels in it as large as a crow quill; the walls of the uterus were about 
half an inch in thickness. The os uteri was much dilated. “ The 
symptoms previous to her death, and the appearances observed on dissec- 
tion, were such as to warrant a supposition that she was poisoned,” and 
that she had been recently delivered of a child, near to the full period 
of gestation. “ Mr. Angus was indicted on two counts : Ist, For poi- 
soning Miss Burns ; and 2d, For administering poison (oil of savine) in 
order to procure an abortion. Accordingly, on the trial, the medico-le- 
gal questions agitated, were: Ist, Whether Miss Burns had died from 
the effects of poison; and 2d, Whether she had been delivered of a child 
recently before her death. The opinions of the medical witnesses exam- 
ined in the case were conflicting. Drs. Gerard, Rutter, and Bostock, 
and Mr. Hay, considered the appearances “conclusive of a recent deliv- 
* Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Jour., vol. 53,1840, p. 60. 
t Beck’s Med. Juris., 6th ed,, vol. 1, p. 247. Purple on the Corpus Luteum. 
13 
ery.” Dr. Carson, for the defence, objected to such a conclusion, and 
considered the appearances to have been “ produced by hydatids.'I'' Ow- 
ing to the difference of opinions expressed by the medical witnesses the 
prisoner was acquitted. Subsequently Mr. Hay took the uterus and its 
appendages to London, where they were examined, and the ovaries divid- 
ed in the presence of a number of physicians, and a corpus luteum was 
distinctly seen in one of them. He then received certificates from Drs. 
Denman and Haighton, Messrs. Henry Cline, Charles M. Clarke, Astley 
Cooper, and Abernethy, ail stating that it exhibited appearances that 
could alone be explained on the idea of an advanced state of pregnancy. 
And it appears to have been universally allowed, that the discovery of 
the corpus luteum proved the fact beyond a doubt. 
Had the ovaries been examined at the post mortem examination, there 
is but little doubt that a different verdict would have been rendered, as 
the discovery of a true corpus luteum would have proved, beyond a doubt, 
that conception had taken place. The supposition that hydatids were 
expelled would not have possessed any weight in evidence against such 
a conclusion. 
177 Hudson st., Sept. 21st,