APPENDIX 



happened. Tests with new material very soon showed that the 

 albumen played no part in the protective effect, and our low 

 temperature work became concentrated on the effects of glycerol 

 in protecting living cells against the effects of low tempera- 



tures." ^^^ 



(19) In a personal communication Dr. A. V. Nalbandov has 

 given the following intriguing story of how he discovered the 

 simple method of keeping experimental chickens ahve after the 

 surgical removal of the pituitary gland (hypophysectomy). 



" In 1940 I became interested in the effects of hypophysectomy 

 of chickens. After I had mastered the surgical technique my 

 birds continued to die and within a few weeks after the operation 

 none remained alive. Neither replacement therapy nor any other 

 precautions taken helped and I was about ready to agree with 

 A. S. Parkes and R. T. Hill who had done similar operations in 

 England, that hypophysectomized chickens simply cannot live. 

 I resigned myself to doing a few short-term experiments and 

 dropping the whole project when suddenly 98% of a group of 

 hypophysectomized birds survived for 3 weeks and a great many 

 lived for as long as 6 months. The only explanation I could find 

 was that my surgical technique had improved with practice. At 

 about this time, and when I was ready to start a long-term experi- 

 ment, the birds again started dying and within a week both 

 recently operated birds and those which had lived for several 

 months, were dead. This, of course, argued against surgical pro- 

 ficiency. I continued with the project since I now knew that they 

 could live under some circumstances which, however, eludea me 

 completely. At about this time I had a second successful period 

 during which mortality was very low. But, despite careful 

 analysis of records (the possibility of disease and many other 

 factors were considered and eliminated) no explanation was 

 apparent. You can imagine how frustrating it was to be unable 

 to take advantage of something that was obviously having a pro- 

 found effect on the ability of these animals to withstand the 

 operation. Late one night I was driving home from a party via a 

 road which passes the laboratory. Even though it was 2 a.m. lights 

 were burning in the animal rooms. I thought that a careless 

 student had left them on so I stopped to turn them off. A few 

 nights later I noted again that lights had been left on all night. 

 Upon enquiry it turned out that a substitute janitor, whose job 

 it was to make sure at midnight that all the windows were closed 

 and doors locked, preferred to leave on the lights in the animal 

 room in order to be able to find the exit door (the light switches 

 not being near the door). Further checking showed that the two 

 survival periods coincided with the times when the substitute 



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