HERMAPHRODITISMUS VERUS IN MAN 273 



ovaries to those containing only primordial follicles or even empty 

 follicles. 



The primitive and rather small female portion found in this 

 hermaphroditic genital gland indicates perhaps that in many 

 cases of spm-ious hermaphroditism traces of ovarian tissue might 

 be found, provided the entire testicular tissue be thoroughly 

 searched, so far, however, this has never been done. 



That both types of germinal tissue are in a hypoplastic condi- 

 tion is explained by Halban in the following way, the impulse 

 for development, which normally is concentrated upon one system, 

 in cases of hermaphroditism is called to act upon two systems and 

 thus is insufficient to force either to the normal degree of develop- 

 ment. • 



In the present case male and female tissues are found in close 

 contact in one gland, but an intermixing of the two kinds of tissue 

 does not exist, and therefore the term "ovotestis," as is often used 

 for this kind of gland, does not seem to be appropriate. In the 

 true ovotestis of invertebrates male and female sexual cells 

 are produced by one glandular structure. 



The male part of an ' ovotestis' is as a rule considerably larger 

 and further developed than the female. Kopsch and Szymono- 

 vicz have observed this in all hermaphroditic vertebrates and 

 it likewise holds for the present case. This individual, however, 

 shows many more external female characters than one should 

 expect when considering the large male part of the genital gland. 

 If the interstitial cells of the testis are really responsible for the 

 accessory sexual characters then the person in question should 

 show a typical male condition. The body of the individual is 

 not a perfect woman, yet the male characters are not so out- 

 spoken that she could be called a man-woman. This fact is sur- 

 prising from the study of the genital gland tissue, as far as this 

 could be investigated, but it must be remembered that the 

 actual amount of ovarian tissue the individual really carried in its 

 body is not known. As has been mentioned above, a nodule existed 

 in the left inguinal canal similar to that described from the right, 

 this in all probability may have also been genital gland tissue and 

 it might have contained a preponderance of ovarian material. 



