474 INTERNAL SECRETIONS 



Fichera (1905, quoted from Biedl) observed in various 

 mammals that the hypophysis increases in volume and weight 

 after castration. According to the same author an increase of 

 the eosinophile cells both in number and size takes place in the 

 castrated cock and in certain castrated mammals (rabbit, 

 guinea pig, ox, buffalo). Similar statements have been made 

 by others who have investigated the question, but not, indeed, 

 by all. The problem has been dealt with by Schonherg and 

 Sakaguchi (1917) and by Bell (1920, p. 42). Schonberg and 

 Sakaguchi examined a great number of bulls, oxen and cows, 

 and stated that the hypophysis is on the average much increased 

 after castration, but the increase is not constant. They found 

 also an hyperplasia of the eosinophiles, but they point out that 

 it is very difficult to make any certain statements about their 

 quantity, as the number of cells coloured with eosin depends 

 greatly on the technique employed. Very similar are the 

 statements of Bell who experimented on female cats. Removal 

 of the ovaries appeared to cause some increase in the secretory 

 activity of the anterior lobe; but the change was slight, and 

 not quite constant. "There was (about eight months after 

 castration) a large preponderance of brightly stained eosinophile 

 cells in the anterior lobe — a condition indicating increased 

 activity, but not the great activity seen after the thyroidec- 

 tomy." In one experiment seven months after castration no 

 divergence from the normal could be recognized histologically. 

 The observations of Schonberg and of Bell seem to indicate that 

 the changes occurring in the hypophysis after castration are 

 identical in both sexes. Further, Schleidt (1914), in Steinach's 

 laboratory, found that the hypophysis remains normal in 

 feminized and masculinized animals. The influence exerted 

 by the testicle on the hypophysis appears to be identical with 

 that of the ovary. This influence is therefore apparently not 

 sex specific. The question is of great theoretical interest, and 

 should be dealt with more fully experimentally. 



There is still another aspect of this question. We learned 

 that there is in the "castrate" of both sexes a disproportion 

 between body length and the length of the extremities, due to 

 the fact that in the "castrate" the zone of proliferation persists 

 for a longer time. Evidently both male and female sexual 

 hormones influence the long bones in the same way, at a certain 

 time inhibiting further growth. It might seem at first sight 



