SEX IN" LIVING FORMS 141 



usually prompted by the jealousy of rulers, who al- 

 lowed no males but eunuchs to associate with their wives 

 and concubines. The effect upon the male is to render 

 him effeminate in appearance and weak in mind. If 

 performed before puberty, the growth of the beard is 

 scanty, and the voice never acquires that deepness of 

 tone natural to the masculine voice. 



Spaying.— An analogous operation, termed spay- 

 ing, is performed upon females, consisting in the re- 

 moval of the ovaries; effects similar to those in the 

 male, sterility without entire immediate loss of sexual 

 sense, being the usual result. Spaying is much more 

 frequently performed than castration, and is now em- 

 ployed as a means of relieving certain forms of in- 

 tractable disease of the womb and ovaries. The credit 

 of first employing this operation in cases of this kind 

 is due to Dr. Battey, of Georgia. Castration is still 

 practiced in some Eastern countries. 



