SCROTAL REPLACEMENT OF CRYPTORCHID TESTES. I 1.3 



dominal position, but decided disorganization of the seminiferous 

 tubules occurs within six days (guinea pig); the destructive 

 effects are so pronounced and progressive that the testis is 

 almost entirely cleared of its germinal epithelium within twenty 

 to thirty days. As degeneration becomes more pronounced the 

 testis as a whole diminishes markedly in size; the individual 

 diameter of the seminiferous tubules is less; and usually the 

 interstitial cells become decidedly more prominent. The testis 

 does not again become active in spermatogenesis if it remains in 

 the abdomen ; two years after elevation it is but a small fraction 

 of its former size, and entirely inactive in germ cell production. 

 We have shown by many different lines of evidence that a 

 higher temperature in the abdomen is the fundamental cause of 

 its conversion into a degenerate testis and hence the scrotum 

 has been recognized as a local thermoregulator which functions 

 to produce a lower environmental temperature about the testis; 

 it follows that such a regulation of temperature is necessary 

 for the normal activity of the organ (Moore, '246, Moore and 

 Quick, '24). 



It was pointed out (Moore, '240) that replacement of a testis 

 in the scrotum, shortly after it had been caused to degenerate, 

 was followed by restoration of its gametogenetic function; 

 figures representing the grade of degeneration at the end of 

 twenty-four days abdominal retention and the recovery within a 

 few months after scrotal replacement reveal the reestablishment 

 of spermatozoon formation. This emphasized the fundamental 

 importance of the scrotal regulatory function on spermatogenetic 

 activity. 



The question has been raised many times since this publication 

 whether a testis congenitally retained in the abdomen in man 

 could later assume its normal function if it were replaced in the 

 scrotum by an operation. And in attempting an answer to this 

 important problem, further study has led to observations that 

 form the basis of this report. 



MATERIAL AND METHOD. 



The most usual cryptorchid condition encountered in nature 

 (in man or other mammals) is a unilateral abdominal retention 



