224 GREGOR T. POPA. 



the bodies of animals just killed and carried to the laboratory 

 in a thermos bottle. Under these conditions the organs remained 

 at a temperature of 25-3O C. until they were used. The 

 experiments were almost always completed within two to four 

 hours after the removal of the organs from the animals. To 

 establish certain points which required absolutely fresh material, 

 the same series of experiments was performed twice, once at the 

 slaughter-house, within a quarter of an hour after killing, and 

 again in the laboratory. 



The spermatozoa were generally removed from different parts 

 of the epididymis by transverse cuts through that structure. 

 Sometimes they were also taken from the vas deferens and 

 from the testes directly and also from the seminal vesicles. 

 The follicular fluid was obtained by pricking the follicles at 

 their most transparent points by means of a fine pipette into 

 which the follicular fluid was drawn by suction. 



All organs and especially the female genital tract were taken 

 from the freshly killed animal by myself and examined immedi- 

 ately. 



Other details of the technique will be described and explained 

 in connection with the experiments. 



III. EXPERIMENTS. 



i. When follicular fluid is mixed with spermatozoa taken 

 directly from the epididymis or other parts of the male genital 

 tract a coagulum is obtained in ten to twenty minutes. This 

 coagulum is whitish, semi-opaque, friable, and of a specific 

 gravity greater than that of water; when dissociated with 

 needles, the coagulum breaks up into blocks with sharp edges, 

 indicating a firm consistency. Small fragments of the coagulum 

 when viewed under the microscope appear as homogeneous and 

 transparent masses in which the spermatozoa are imbedded, 

 scattered or in groups. After more complete dissociation of the 

 coagulum into minute fragments one may isolate here and there 

 bundles of fibers coated by a hyaline substance. The surface 

 of the coagulum shines like a fatty surface and does not adhere 

 to water. If therefore the coagulum is set carefully on the 

 surface of water, it will float. When submerged, it sinks, 

 showing that its specific gravity is greater than that of water. 



