94 INTRODUCTION TO SEXUAL PHYSIOLOGY 



characters. In consequence of this function Bouin and Ancel 

 designated the tissue in question the " interstitial gland," and 

 Steinach subsequently called it the " puberty gland," in view 

 of the great acceleration in all the sexual processes, and in the 

 correlated growth of the secondary characters, at the period of 

 puberty, in association with the development of this gland. 

 Furthermore, cases of testicular transplantation in man are 

 recorded by Lichtenstern and others who have claimed cures for 

 eunuchoidism and homosexuality as well as for debility and 

 impotence, and in certain of these it is apparent that of the 

 testicular elements which remained in the grafts, the interstitial 

 cells alone possessed any functional capacity. The same is true 

 in the case of Thorek's grafts of chimpanzee's testis upon man, 

 the histological preparations made subsequently showing that 

 the interstitial elements had proliferated, whereas the tubules 

 had undergone atrophy. According to VoronoiT, on the other 

 hand, the hormone produced by the " monkey gland " comes 

 from the epithelial cells. 



It is, however, a very open question whether the interstitial 

 tissue in birds' testes elaborates the hormone, for in this class 

 the cells outside the tubules are rarely epithelioid, many of them 

 at any rate being of the nature of ordinary connective tissue cells. 

 Nevertheless, some observers (Massaglia, etc.) attribute the 

 hormone-producing function to the interstitial tissue in birds 

 as well as in mammals. 



Ovariotomy 



The effects of removal of the ovaries are, in a general way, 

 of a similar kind to those following castration in the male. If 

 the operation be done before puberty, the uterus remains infantile 

 and the mannnary glands fail to develop. If done after puberty 

 the uterus degenerates, the mucous membrane undergoing 

 fibrosis, the lumen becoming reduced in size, while the glands 

 and muscles atrophy. In regard to the effect of ovariotomy 

 on the secondary sexual characters, the tendency is to produce 

 a neutral type similar to that of the castrated male, at least 

 in the higher vertebrates. Thus the shape of the head in the 

 castrated cow is like that of the ox (Tandler and Keller), and 

 similarly with the pelvis in the sheep (Franz). Sj)oaking generally. 



