288 H. D. GOODALE. 



1911). The single ovary is a flat sheet of tissue, roughly tri- 

 angular in outline, found on the left side only. The two testes 

 are each cigar-shaped. 



The second possibility is that a clerical error was made. It 

 should be needless to say that great care is taken to avoid this 

 sort of mistake. However, there are several checks on mistakes 

 of either sort. First, in ovariotomy an incision is made on the 

 left side only, never on the right. In the extremely rare event of 

 there being an ovary on the right side its presence would remain 

 unknown until much later. The right side is never examined 

 at the time of operation. Therefore, if a supposed female were 

 really a male, the presence of the right testis would bring the 

 mistake to light in due course of time. Second, an infantile 

 oviduct has always been found in the cases autopsied. These 

 oviducts are not a vague strand of tissue but on the contrary are 

 in about the same condition as a four or five month pullet's before 

 the ovary has begun to enlarge preparatory to laying. Third, 

 there are a number of peculiarities about the castrated females 

 that differentiate them from males both normal and castrated. 

 These are fully considered in another place. 1 Finally, it may be 

 noted that the number of instances on record is fairly large. 

 During the past year a flock of fifteen ovariotomized ducks, 

 besides several ovariotomized fowl, have been maintained at 

 this station. 



The second individual for consideration is a rose-combed bird 

 of a different strain of Brown Leghorns which was castrated as 

 a four-weeks-old chick in 1914. This bird, number 3840, devel- 

 oped a beautiful male plumage in due course of time, except that 

 for some reason the development of the tail was imperfect. The 

 main tail feathers were present but had an injured appearance. 

 Number 1196, described above, likewise had the dorsal portion of 

 the uropygium missing, which gave her a bob-tailed appearance. 

 Number 3840 also had the same bob-tailed appearance in 1914, 

 though the feathers were actually present, but lost it with the 

 new feathers in the autumn of 1915. The comb and wattles 

 developed more slowly than those of the normal male, but by 

 late spring they had become large and male-like. The spurs 

 in press. 



