EFFECTS ON THE MALE REPRODUCTIVE TRACT 407 



but are more resistant, and those of the outer portion of the wall persist and 

 appear embryonal in character, the tubules resembling those in young animals 

 before puberty. Upon refeeding, these cells are able to regenerate new elements, 

 even when the testis has lost two-thirds in weight. 



Simonowitsch ('96, '97, '99) likewise found in the testis degenerative changes 

 somewhat proportional to the length of inanition (complete or incomplete) in 

 rabbits and guinea pigs. The parenchyma (seminiferous) cells undergo cloudy 

 swelling, granulo-fatty degeneration, vacuolation and nuclear chromatolysis, 

 with ultimate necrobiosis. The interstitial tissue shows edematous infiltration. 

 The degenerative changes appear greater in incomplete (chronic) inanition, 

 probably because of the longer time involved. These changes occur only in 

 irregularly scattered areas, normal spermatozoa appearing in the other tubules 

 and in the seminal vesicles. Sexual passion is retained for a considerable 

 period, even after loss of 35 per cent in body weight. Upon ample refeeding, the 

 degenerated areas disappear in 5-7 days, through regeneration of the persistent 

 cells; and the interstitial tissue becomes infiltrated with fat. 



Loisel ('01) studied the changes in the testis of a dog, emaciated by 26 days 

 on water only. Spermatogenesis is completely arrested in most of the tubules, 

 the epithelium being in various stages of retrogression, with some scattered fat 

 granules. The phenomenon resembles the "metaspermatogenesis" in birds and 

 (probably) in hibernating mammals. In both cases, pathological and physi- 

 ological, the seminiferous epithelium tends to become reduced to a single type 

 of cell, corresponding to the cells of Sertoli. These cells, under appropriate 

 conditions, are able to regenerate the seminiferous epithelium. 



Konstantinovitsch ('03) observed in the seminiferous epithelium (of rab- 

 bits?) fat droplets which appeared unchanged during starvation. This was 

 confirmed by Traina ('04), who found the fat content of the testis unchanged 

 in fasting rabbits. In adults, spermatogenesis continues unaffected until the 

 loss in body weight reaches 20-25 per cent; and ceases only when the loss 

 reaches 30-35 per cent. Even then, mitosis still continues in the spermato- 

 gonia and spermatocytes. The interstitial cells, including their fat content, 

 remain unchanged during inanition. The epididymis cells also remain 

 unchanged, including the cilia and the lipoidal granules. In the seminal vesicles 

 of adult fasting rabbits, spermatozoa still occur. The fat granules of the lining 

 cells remain unchanged; likewise the pigment granules (lipochromes). The 

 fat content of the male reproductive tract therefore belongs to the "sessile" 

 or "permanent" variety, unaffected by inanition. 



Blumenthal ('04) studied the effects of inanition in mammals and (especially) 

 the frog, noting that the testes become greatly atrophied. Ugrumow ('04) 

 found that even moderate starvation of the male rabbit may produce low 

 vitality in the offspring (cf. Morgulis '23). 



As early as 1880, Nussbaum, in experiments on underfed frog larvae, noted 

 that the sex glands may apparently continue development, in spite of retarda- 

 tion in growth of the body. Later ('06, '06a, '09, '14) Nussbaum found that 

 in amphibia (frog and triton) inanition has a varied effect upon the testis 

 and spermatogenesis (as previously mentioned for the ovary) according to the 





