EFFECTS ON THE FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE TRACT 395 



mm. long; the diameter of the oviduct was 1 mm., and of numerous ripe ova, 1.3 

 mm. A female underfed 4 months was 91 mm. long; ovary 16 mm. long; diam- 

 eter of oviduct c.6 mm., and of the scanty ripe ova 0.8 m. In a third female, 

 starved 6 months, the ovary measured 10 mm., the oviduct 0.5 mm., and the 

 atrophic, yolk-poor ova 0.25 mm. He found that: "Der Hunger zuerst die 

 dotterreichsten Eier zur Resorption bringt, und die iibrigen Korperorgane 

 demgemass auf Kosten dieses reichen Nahrmaterials eine Zeitlang ihren Fort- 

 bestand sichern." 



Marshall ('10) stated that cows attain sexual maturity normally at one year 

 of age, though later if malnourished. "But even starved and backward cows 

 will receive the bull when 15 months old." 



Marshall ('23) summarizes the evidence that fecundity in sheep is increased 

 by special nutrition ("flushing"), which apparently increases the number of 

 ova discharged; with the opposite result during malnutrition. 



Kammerer ('13) noted that underfed Salamandra maculosa are retarded in 

 growth of the body and of the sex-glands, which remain small, though accom- 

 panied by a massive fat-body. When placed under normal nutritional condi- 

 tions, the sex glands soon become normal. Bardier ('13) reviewed the effects of 

 inanition upon the ovary and other organs. 



Aschner ('14) found that during inanition, disease, etc., there is a marked 

 decrease or disappearance of the fatty granules in the interstitial cells of the 

 ovary in dogs. 



Nussbaum ('14) reviewed his earlier work ('06, '06a, '09) on the effects of 

 inanition upon the ovary and testis in frog larvae. The results are variable 

 (especially according to the season), the gonads being long persistent, though 

 ultimately undergoing atrophy and resorption. The ripened cells are resorbed 

 first, the oogonia and spermatogonia being more persistent. He remarked 

 that: "Bei den Eiern ist die Resorption namentlich am Amphibienei gut verfolgt 

 worden. Ruge u. a. haben gezeigt, dass die Aufsaugung des Dotters unter 

 Mitwirkung der Granulosazellen vor sich geht." 



Morgulis, Howe and Hawk ('15) found no apparent abnormality in the 

 ovary of a dog as a result of protracted inanition. Ova were present in all 

 stages of normal development. 



In adult albino rats subjected to acute inanition, with loss of 33 per cent in 

 body weight, Jackson ('15) found an apparent increase of 22 per cent in the 

 weight of the ovaries. In rats underfed from age of 3 to 10 weeks, or 10 weeks 

 to 8 months, however, Jackson ('15a) found the ovaries 27-54 per cent sub- 

 normal in average weight (Table 4). Stewart ('18, '19) found that in newborn 

 rats held at birth weight by underfeeding 16 days, the ovaries were slightly 

 (5 per cent) above normal in weight; but with longer and less severe underfeeding, 

 the ovaries increased to an average weight 54-83 per cent above normal for 

 the corresponding body weight (Table 4). In the stunted offspring of rats 

 underfed severely during pregnancy, Barry ('20, '21) noted nearly normal weight 

 in the ovaries. 



Stewart ('16) refed albino rats after holding them at maintenance (constant 

 body weight) from 3 to 12 weeks of age, and found the ovaries 11.6 per cent 



