148 LECTUKES ON BIOLOGY 



a normally formed antler developed on the right, the sound side, 

 no formation whatever took place on the left, the side of the 

 fractured leg. It was plain that the organism had used the 

 material originally destined for the left horn for the more 

 necessary object of repairing the injury to the leg. In the 

 following year the deer grew once more two well-formed antlers. 



In many other cases the correlation of the different parts is 

 easily understood. Thus we find that a strong elongation of the 

 vertebral column is accompanied by a shortening of the extremi- 

 ties, whilst, on the other hand, in animals with well-developed 

 extremities we observe a shortening of the vertebral column. It 

 is only necessary to mention here newts and frogs, lizards and 

 blind-worms or snakes, and carp or tench and eels. A strong 

 formation of the anterior extremities, as it is observed in the 

 frog, ostrich, kangaroo, jerboa, and man is accompanied by a 

 weaker development of the anterior extremities. In all these 

 cases use and disuse can be held responsible for the compensation. 



Of the remarkable correlation of the sexual organs and the 

 so-called secondary sexual characters no explanation has so far 

 been forthcoming. The best known instance is that of the 

 famous papal singers whose marvellously pure and powerful 

 voices attract numberless strangers to Rome ; indeed, the im- 

 pression caused by these wonderful sounds is unforgetable. 

 These singers are men whose generative glands were in their 

 infancy removed by a surgical operation. As a result the throat 

 retains its small boyish formation ; there is no breaking of voice, 

 and the eunuchs retain into their ripe age the clear, high timbre 

 of a boy's voice, which excels in power and beauty of tone every 

 woman's voice. Though the castration of boys for this purpose 

 was forbidden by more than one papal bull it has been practised 

 until quite recent times. The destruction of the sex-organs does 

 not only affect the formation of the voice but also of the entire 

 body. The body of the eunuchs has a feminine form, they 

 incline to be corpulent, do not grow a beard, but have very 

 pronounced mammals. More striking still is the effect of castra- 

 tion upon the mind, for eunuchs are generally indolent, stupid, 

 and treacherous. Castration is frequently practised in domesti- 

 cated animals, in horses, to take the ' fire ' out of them, and in 

 rams, bulls, boars, and cocks, to prepare them for fattening. 



