INTERNAL SECRETIONS g; 



to castration of the male, but it is by no means true of all in- 

 vertebrate animals, since in insects, for example, removal of the 

 gonads in the immature individual has no effect on the future 

 development of the characteristic secondary sexual characters, 

 a castrated caterpillar changing into a perfect insect, normal 

 in every way excepting for the absence of the generative glands. 

 AVith vertebrates the castration effects on the secondary characters 

 are usually only brought about if the operation is done prior to 

 puberty or the age when sexual maturity is reached. 



Castration in Males 



In man early castration arrests the enlargement of the larynx 

 and the consequent deepening of the voice, a fact which was 

 formerly taken advantage of in order to provide " sopranists," 

 as in the case of the choir of St Peter's at Rome. Castration 

 likewise prevents the growth of hair on the face and the other 

 parts of the body which are usually provided with hair in the 

 adult male. The general effect is to produce a superficial 

 appearance of femininity, which is in reality a condition in 

 which certain of the male characters are absent rather than one 

 in which female characters have been acquired. Moreover, 

 castration is followed by atrophy of the prostate and other 

 accessory male glands, or if the operation is carried out before 

 puberty, these do not fully develop, and penile erection does not 

 occur. 



There is a disposition towards giantism among eunuchs, 

 since early castration arrests the ossification of the epiphyses ^ 

 of the limb bones, the consequence being that the zones of 

 proliferation persist for a longer time and the bones continue 

 to grow, just as happens also in some cases of pituitary disease. 

 The pelvis of the eunuch tends to maintain the juvenile type. 

 There is often a tendency to put on fat, and Lipschiitz refers to 

 the fat, slippery face of the Skopecs, a fanatical tribe in Siberia, 

 who practised castration for religious purposes. 



The psychological effects of castration are no less marked. 

 If done before puberty, sexual desire is absent, and if done 



^ The epiphyses are the end portions of the bones which ossify from 

 separate centres in portions distinct from the shafts or main parts of the 

 bones. 



