Page:Contraception; 1st ed. (IA in.ernet.dli.2015.94163).pdf/175

be attached to the glands of the cervix uteri, which, according to my own observations, have the function of providing a secretion that increases the mobility of the spermatozoa, and this enables them more readily to find their way into the uterus. I have endeavoured, by a series of histological observations, to determine the properties of these glands and the changes they undergo in the different phases of sexual life. . . . These glands, which are lined with columnar. ciliated epithelium, are but slightly developed before puberty, being then simple excavations; . . . later, during the menacme, they become long dendriform, blind-ending glands, which during menstruation and under the influence of sexual excitement, furnish a secretion, variable in quantity, and in quality distinguished especially by its alkaline reaction." He then goes on to consider their pathological degeneration. Again on p. 300, after discussing details about conception Kisch says: "I further regard it as important in promoting conception, that simultaneously with the changes above described, the reflex nervous stimulation should lead to the secretion by the cervical glands of a gelatinous material, alkaline in reaction, and therefore adapted to increase