HORMONES 55 



effect of castration on the male body, as seen 

 in the eunuchs of the East, is too well known 

 to require comment. All these instances show 

 that the effects of the reproductive hormones 

 in man are quite as profound and significant 

 as they are in the lower mammals, and that 

 in time we may expect to see confirmation in 

 man of many of the facts already ascertained 

 for these lower forms. Not only is this to be 

 expected, but it is reasonable to suppose that 

 the solution of some of the social questions 

 with which human civilization is beset to-day 

 may well be formulated on the basis of such 

 observations as those of Steinach already al- 

 luded to. 



In fact, one of the important social problems 

 turns on the very points that have just been 

 discussed. The question is as to the best 

 method to be employed in the sterilization of 

 defective males. Two general lines are possi- 

 ble, either castration, that is the complete re- 

 moval of the reproductive glands, or some 

 such operation as the cutting of the spermatic 

 ducts or other treatment whereby the repro- 

 ductive cells are eventually destroyed. Both 

 methods render the individual incapable of 

 having offspring, but, judging from Stein- 



