Chapter X. 

 Eunuchoidism and Sexual Precocity. 



Throughout our discussion of intersexuality two important 

 points have been emphasized: first, the quantity of male and 

 female sexual hormones simultaneously or successively in- 

 fluencing the soma; secondly, that the great variability 

 observable in intersexuality may be partly due to another 

 quantitative factor, namely, the time at which changes in the 

 quantities of male and female sexual hormones take place, and 

 the different response by the individual parts of the organism 

 at different periods. 



Quantitative problems will also be the subject of this chapter. 

 If certain quantities of hormones of a monosexual sex gland 

 be necessary for the normal development of the sex characters, 

 for their preservation and for a normal erotization of the indi- 

 vidual, the question arises as to how far the sex characters 

 will vary with diminution or augmentation of these quantities. 



If the hormonic activity of the sex gland is diminished on 

 account of underdevelopment or atrophy beneath the threshold 

 or the minimal quantity necessary for normal masculinization 

 or feminization, the organism will acquire the characters of the 

 "castrate"; the appearance of these characters will depend 

 very much upon the time at which underdevelopment or 

 atrophy set in; there will be all transitions between an early or a 

 late "castrate." On the other hand, variations in the quantity 

 of the sexual hormones beyond the threshold quantity (see 

 Chapter IV.) will not be prejudicial as long as the response to 

 the sexual hormones on the part of the different tissues or 

 of the soma in general remains normal. But if, owing to 

 some endocrine or other disturbance, the capacity to respond 

 changes, an alteration in the quantity of the hormones may be 

 of very great importance, even if the quantity is far beyond 

 the normal threshold. 



Let us now discuss the results of an augmentation in the 

 quantity of the sexual hormones. At first sight it might seem 

 that no change in the development of sex characters will take 



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