THE TESTICLE AND THE OVARY 



323 



early life produces changes in the general proportions of the 

 body. 



In the sheep, also, castration during iimnaturity brings about 

 changes in the bodily conformation. Thus, in breeds in which the 

 males only are horned, the skulls of the wethers may resemble the 

 females rather than the males. 1 This is the case with the Merino 

 sheep. In the Herdwick it has been shown that not only is the 

 presence of the testes necessary for the initiation of horn growth, but 

 for its continuation, the horns ceasing to grow forthwith after 

 castration and at any stage of horn development. Further, uni- 

 lateral castration does not inhibit the growth of the horns which 

 develop symmetrically in the normal manner. 2 



FIG. 76. Herdwick rani (normal). 

 (From Marshall and Hammond, 

 Jour, of Pltysiol.) 



FIG. 77. Herdwick wether (cas- 

 trated young). (From Marshall 

 and Hammond, Jour, of Pkysiol.) 



Differences in the form of the body have been noted in eunuchs 

 as well as castrated animals. Thus, the bones of the limbs tend to 

 be longer than the normal, producing a condition of gigantism. This 

 is due to an arrest in the ossification of the epiphyses (which is one 

 of the effects of castration). The same phenomena have been 

 described in castrated guinea-pigs, oxen, capons, and various animals. 3 



1 Seligman, " Exhibition of a Skull of a Domestic Sheep which had been 

 Castrated when Young," Proc. Zool. /fot 1 ., 1906. Changes in conformation as a 

 result of early castration have also been described in other animals. 



2 Marshall, "On the Effects of Castration and Ovariotomy upon Sheep," 

 Proc. Roy. Soc. t B., vol. Ixxxv., 1912. Marshall and Hammond, "On the Effects 

 of Castration on Horn Growth in Sheep," Jour, of Physiol., vol. xlviii., 1914. 

 In the Merino also castration is known to arrest the growth of the horns of 

 the ram (Arkell and Davenport, " Horns in Sheep, etc.," Science, vol. xxxv., 

 1912). 



3 Lannois and Roy, " Des Relations qui existent entre 1'Etat des Glandes 

 genitales males et le Developpement du Squelette"; and Poncet, "De 1'Influence 

 de la Castration sur le Developpement du Squelette," C. R. de la Soc. de Biol., 

 vol. lv., 1902. See also Pittard, C. R. de I' A cad. des Sciences, vol. cxxxix., 1904, 

 who gives statistics showing that there is often an increase in size in eunuchs, 



