INTERSEXUALITY 369 



Goldschmidt (19 16) has elaborated a theory of homo- 

 sexuality on the basis of his very interesting experiments on 

 moths. He considers the possibility of homosexuality being 

 a genetic intersexuality like that caused by crossing different 

 races of Lymantria dispar. There might be in man, according 

 to Goldschmidt, a normal endocrine function of the sex gland, 

 but an intersexual state of the soma; in this case the normal 

 hormone production would be insufficient to bring about a 

 normal development of sex characters, and an intersexual 

 condition would result. On the other hand, there might also 

 be an intersexual condition of the hormonic sex gland. This 

 is why Goldschmidt as long ago as 1916 proposed to try gonadal 

 injections or transplantations for curing homosexuality. The 

 latter treatment was tried by Steinach and Lichtenstern (1918) 

 before Goldschmidt's paper was published. They removed the 

 testicles from an homosexual patient and engrafted the testicle 

 of a normal individual. The patient was a man of thirty 

 with some signs of somatic eunuchoidism, such as accumulation 

 of fat on the breast and the hips, and insufficient growth of 

 hair in the characteristic places. The man was homosexual 

 from his fourteenth year, like a brother and two sisters. 

 At twenty-nine the left testicle and the right epididymis 

 were removed on account of tuberculosis. The patient became 

 sexually impotent after this operation ; but the above-mentioned 

 somatic indications were already present from his seventeenth 

 year. Lichtenstern removed the remaining testicle and en- 

 grafted a retained testicle of a sexually normal individual. 

 As soon as about two weeks after the operation normal male 

 sexual desire and ability appeared. Six weeks later coition 

 took place followed by full satisfaction and happiness. The 

 general behaviour of the man, which before the operation 

 was clearly feminine, now became more masculine.^ About a 

 year after the operation the man married. It is truly very 

 difficult in such cases to exclude the influence of suggestion 

 on the psycho-sexual behaviour. But the man showed also 

 a change in his somatic sex characters; the accumulations 

 of fat on the breast and hips disappeared, and the hairiness 

 became much more pronounced. 



Similar attempts at surgical treatment of homosexuality 



^ Through the kindness of Professor Steinach I had opportunities of 

 examining this patient before and after the operation. 



