INFLUENCE ON SEX CHARACTERS 339 



I. The Effect of Prostatic Injections. 



Some authors are of the opinion that the troubles arising 

 after prostatectomy are caused by lack of an internal secretion 

 of the prostate. A great number of experiments has been made 

 with a view to demonstrating this internal secretion. Especial 

 attention has been paid to the changes which are caused by 

 injection of extracts of the prostate. Very profound changes 

 have been observed after injection of a glycerine or water 

 extract of the prostate of the bull ; a remarkable rise of blood 

 pressure followed by a fall, and a stoppage of the heart to- 

 gether with convulsions, were observed. An acceleration of 

 the respiratory movements also has been recorded after 

 injection of smaller quantities of the extract. Similar ex- 

 periments have been performed also by 5^^^/ (1913) on the dog. 

 Biedl points out that these observations are totally insufficient 

 for demonstrating the existence of a specific internal secretion 

 of the prostate, and that the changes observed can be ex- 

 plained as due to intravascular coagulation. 



Some authors claim to have observed specific effects of the 

 prostatic secretion on the muscles of the bladder. But as we 

 have pointed out already in Chapter VII., experiments with 

 injection of extracts are of a theoretical value only in those 

 cases where control experiments have been made with ex- 

 tracts of other organs prepared in exactly the same manner. 

 We never know what changes the complex chemical compounds 

 of the different tissues undergo when preparing an extract, 

 and it is very likely that the effects of an extract are often 

 merely the result of substances which are artificially pro- 

 duced in making it. Due consideration is not always taken of 

 this possibiHty. Much critical study is necessary in this field of 

 experimental and clinical research, and this is especially 

 true for experiments with extracts of the prostate. This 

 applies to the experiments of Bogoslavski and Korencevski 

 (1921) who stated that an emulsion of prostate gland may 

 give rise to a very considerable increase in the metabolism 

 in dogs, especially if they are previously castrated. The experi- 

 ments of Macht and his co-workers (1920) are also of interest 

 here. Macht fed tadpoles of different amphibians with dried 

 prostate gland for several weeks; controls were fed with 

 liver, ovary, corpus luteum and other glands. He recorded 



