4 The Biochemistry of Semen 



Committee on Maternal Health {Diagnosis in Sterility, 1946; The 

 Problem of Fertility, 1946; Studies on Testis and Ovary, Eggs and 

 Sperm, 1952), the American Society for the Study of Sterility 

 (official journal: Fertility and Sterility) and the British Society for the 

 Study of Fertility {Proceedings). 



SPERMATOZOA 



Spermatogenesis and sperm 'ripening'' 



Spermatozoa (Plate I and Fig. 1) originate in the testis from the 

 germ or spermatogenic cells of the seminiferous epithelium in the 



Galea capitis 



HEAD< 



NECK 



MIDDLE, 

 PIECE \ 



TAIL 



Acrosome 



Nucleus (poscerior part) 



Centrosome 



Axial filament 



Fig, 1. Diagrammatic representation of a spermatozoon. 



course of spermatogenesis, a process of stepwise proliferation and 

 transformation, distinguished by the successive stages of sperma- 

 togonia, primary spermatocytes, secondary spermatocytes, and 

 spermatids. The present knowledge concerning the chemical changes 



