156 



PHYSIOLOGY 



CHAP. 



in cases in which the body increases in weight after castration, 

 as well as in those in which there is a decrease. In the last 

 case the total exchange of material undergoes an absolute re- 

 duction ; in the first, a reduction relative to the body -weight of 

 the animal. 



By these depressive effects on metabolism are easily explained 

 some modifications of nutrition which follow castration, such as 

 fattening, and anomalies in the development of the bones. 



Fattening is a direct effect of the diminution of the oxidative 

 processes ; it is one of the few cases scientifically determined of 

 accumulation of fat of constitutional and not dietetic origin. 



The anomalies of development in the osseous system are also 



^I 



d,-.. 



A'.-.- 



v . ,-. ^- ; -*MZs^T* i i ^ vr~ * *i^r-*-) \ 



\3 m 



fia. 41. Part of a section of a lobule of testicle of man. Magnified CO diameters. (Sobotta.) tc, 

 tubuli contort! ; ti, interstitial connective tissue ; ci, group of interstitial cells ; a, arteriole ; 

 v, venule. 



in great part a consequence of slower metabolism. Sellheim 

 (1898-99) found that they affected not only the bones of the 

 extremities and of the pelvis, but also the bones of the cranium. 

 Lannois and Eoy (1902), by means of the Kontgen rays, found 

 that in a castrated man of 27-30 years of age the epiphyseal 

 cartilages were not yet completely ossified. It may be concluded, 

 therefore, that the abnormal growth in height in eunuchs, the 

 greater amplitude of the pelvis, and the conspicuously dolicho- 

 cephalic skull, depend on the greater slowness in the process of 

 ossification, owing to which the capacity for osseous growth 

 continues longer than usual. These facts were verified by ex- 

 periments on animals. Poncet (1902) observed in castrated 

 guinea-pigs and calves a greater development of the skeleton 

 than in the intact animals. In bulls, ossification of the cartilages 



