light prickings.

The lady went on talking as the nurse led her to the examination room: It is not the appendix that causes my pain, is it?

— I do not believe so, although this pain is very often taken for the result of an inflamed appendix, and so leads to an unnecessary operation.

— But you have not told me what the cause of my pain is, doctor?

— The fact is that this is the period in which the ovum is formed, and five percent of women suffer pain during this time. In the ovary there is a cluster of small ova, connected to one another by fine filaments, and activity continues among them all following the menstrual period; but one of them outstrips the rest in growth and ripening, then forces its way through the ovarian membrane, which swells and stretches and finally splits, sometimes causing internal bleeding.

It happens in some women that conception occurs

outside the wall of the womb and the vaginal canal after menstruation, and this kind of pain may also be attributed to the swelling of the ovary itself.

— I am fortunate, then, that my pain comes from this! But there is one point I have not understood: why does the outward bleeding occur, so long as the pain is inside the organs?

— The seepage of blood you mentioned does not count as heavy bleeding; it may be some blood that escapes into the vaginal canal upon the release of the ovum; and it can be stopped by means of certain hormones. You told me that you long for motherhood — you are fortunate a second time, since you now know the period when the ovum ripens. Conception takes place within a week after the pain, and this is known as the fertile period. So if you wish to conceive, the best time is the period following the pain — and I foresee success for you in what you hope!

— Nothing could make me happier; thank you, doctor!