A FEMINIZED COCKEREL 



H. D. GOODALE 



Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station, Anihersl, Mass. 



SEVEN FIGURES 



The relation of the gonads to the secondary sexual characters 

 of animals has received considerable attention during recent 

 years. The work of Steinach with rats and guinea pigs is of 

 particular interest since he was able to transform males into the 

 simulacrum of females by grafting ovaries into castrated males. 

 A like result has been secured with the individual described in 

 the present paper. This is the only successful result that I 

 have been able to secure from several trials made at intervals 

 during the past five years. ^ 



The chick, a Erown Leghorn, was hatched May 27, 1914, of 

 eggs purchased from a breeder. On June 19, the bird was cas- 

 trated by making an incision on each side and carefully removing 

 the testes. Particular care was taken to see that all testicular 

 matter was removed. Just previous to the operation on this 

 bird the ovaries had been removed from two pullets of the same 

 strain belonging to the same brood and placed in moist cotton. 

 They were cut in several pieces and dropped into the abdominal 

 cavity on each side. No attempt was made to suture the pieces 

 in place. The bird was returned to the flock to await develop- 

 ments. August 25 it was mistaken for a castrated female and 

 its plumage was described in notes made at that time as 'fair 

 male juvenile.' It should be remembered in this connection that 

 the juvenile plumage of the male Brown Leghorn has some 

 points of resemblance to the female. Two days later the entire 



' Since this paper went to press, the results of several trials made in the 

 autumn of 1915 have become available. Three individuals externally are 

 essentially like the one described in this paper. This Ijrings the number of 

 successful instances to four. 



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