INTERNAL SECRETIONS OF SEXUAL GLANDS 85 



The question of testicular transplantation in man has been 

 advanced by the experiments of Steinach, and since 1916 

 testicular transplantation has been accomplished a number of 

 times. It is impossible here to give a full account of this matter 

 which is more especially of a surgical interest. Some of the 

 successful cases which have so far been recorded may be taken as 

 examples. Lichtenstern (1916) operated on the man mentioned 

 already in Chapter 11. (p. 12), where examples were given 

 of the results of castration in man. The individual in question 

 lost both testicles when 29 years old, owing to being wounded 

 in the war. When he came under medical observation, 

 pronounced signs of castration were already present; these 

 were the accumulation of fat, the hairless face, and the con- 

 figuration of the hair in the regio pubis characteristic of the 

 eunuch. Sexual libido and sexual abihty were absent for 

 the whole of the six weeks the man spent in the hospital before 

 transplantation was attempted. Then a testicle was taken 

 from a man of 40 who suffered from a congenital hernia which 

 caused a painful pressure on the retained testicle. A thorough 

 clinical examination and an examination of the blood of the 

 man from whom the testicle was to be taken were made 

 previously. The extirpated testicle was cleared from the 

 epididymis, cut in two, and inserted in the obhquus externus 

 muscle, at a spot previously scarified with the cut surface 

 underneath. Thin catgut stitches were made to fix the al- 

 buginea to the muscle; one stitch going through the muscle 

 from both sides and through the top of the graft was tied above 

 the top to make the contact between the cut surface of the 

 graft and scarified muscle closer. The fascia of the muscle 

 previously split was not tied so as to avoid any pressure on the 

 graft. The first day after the operation hot cloths were put 

 over the bandage to promote hyperaemia and favour vasculari- 

 zation. Lichtenstern relates that about the second week after 

 the operation signs of regained sexual desire and capacity (erotic 

 dreams and erections) were experienced. The first normal 

 sexual act was performed about six weeks after the operation. 

 The accumulation of fat decreased and the beard began to 

 grow. When examined nine months after the operation all the 

 somatic and physical signs of castration were absent, the sexual 

 life of the man was normal and he intended to marry; fifteen 

 months after the operation he did marry; according to a 



