340 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION 



THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE OVARY AND THE 

 OTHER FEMALE ORGANS AND CHARACTERS 



It has long been known that the ovary, like the testis, exerts a 

 profound influence over the metabolism, and that the extirpation of 

 this organ, no less than castration in the male, leads to very distinct 

 results. In the human female double ovariotomy, if carried out 

 before puberty, besides preventing the onset of puberty and the 

 occurrence of menstruation, produces noticeable effects on the general 

 form and appearance, as may be seen in adult women in semi- 

 barbarous parts of Asia, where the natives perform this operation 

 upon young girls. Such women are said to be devoid of many of the 

 characteristics of their sex, and in certain cases to present resemblances 

 to men. 



In some female animals, also, the removal or incomplete develop- 

 ment of the ovaries has been said to lead to the appearance of male 

 characters. For example, Eorig l records three cases in which female 

 deer possessed horns, and were found upon examination to show 

 abnormalities in the ovaries. Darwin 2 also states that female deer 

 have been known to acquire horns in old age. 3 



Better instances of this kind of phenomenon have been recorded 

 from among poultry, game birds, and ducks, which, on growing senile, 

 have been observed to acquire some of the secondary male characters. 

 Darwin 4 refers to the case of a duck which, when ten years old, 

 assumed the plumage of the drake. He also mentions an instance 

 of a hen which in old age acquired the secondary sexual characters of 

 the cock. Hunter 5 described a case of a hen pheasant which had 

 male plumage correlated with an abnormal ovary, and many other 

 such instances .have been recorded. Gurney 6 states that the 

 assumption of male plumage is frequently (but not invariably) 

 associated with barrenness in female gallinaceous birds but not as a 

 rule in passerine birds. The phenomenon has been observed in black 

 grouse, capercaillie, wild duck, widgeon, merganser, and various other 

 species belonging to different orders. On the other hand, Gurney 



1 Eorig, "Ueber Geweihentwickelung, etc.," Arch. f. Entwick.-Mechanik, 

 vol. x., 1900. For sheep, see final footnote, p. 392. 



2 Darwin, Variation in Animals and Plants, Popular Edition, London, 1905. 



3 Smith (F.) ( Veterinary Physiology, 3rd Edition, London, 1907) states that 

 female cats, whose ovaries have been removed while young, acquire a head of 

 the male type (with well developed tissues in the jowl, the exact converse 

 occurring in castrated males). Herbst, who also discusses this question 

 (Formative Reize in der Tierischen Ontogenese, Leipzig 1901), expresses the belief 

 that the gonads in either sex exercise a definite inhibitory influence, preventing 

 the appearance of the secondary sexual characters of the opposite sex. 



4 Darwin, loc. cit. 



5 Hunter (J.), "Account of an Extraordinary Pheasant," Phil. Trans., vol. 

 Ixx., 1780. 



6 Gurney, "On the Occasional Assumption of Male Plumage by Female 

 Birds," Ibis, vol. vi., 5th series, 1888. 



