36 



THE SEX-COMPLEX 



Other evi- 

 dence con- 

 cerning view 

 that ovaries 

 are concerned 

 in calcium 

 excretion. 



Adiposity 

 after oophor- 

 ectomy. 



The ovaries 

 and the 

 processes of 

 oxidation. 



In this connexion the experiments of Pearl 1 are 

 extremely interesting, although they require confirma- 

 tion. This investigator has found that when moderate 

 doses of calcium salts are added to the food of fowls the 

 cocks are unaffected, whereas the hens show a greatly 

 increased rate of growth in comparison with the controls. 

 Further, the egg-laying capacity of the hens so treated 

 was, in a given time, found to be five times greater than 

 that of the controls. When extract of corpus luteum 

 was given at the same time the effect of the calcium on 

 growth was prevented. 



The adiposity which is seen in castrated animals 

 probably resembles that which occurs in over fifty per 

 cent, of all women at the menopause. It has been 

 stated that this adiposity is due, in these circumstances, 

 not only to ovarian insufficiency but also to a coinci- 

 dental reduction in the activities of the pituitary and 

 thyroid. 



Loewy and Richter 2 . found that in an estimation of 

 the total metabolism, as expressed by the consumption 

 of oxygen and excretion of CO 2 , oophorectomy causes a 

 diminution in the proportion of 14 to 20 per cent, per 

 kilogramme in the processes of oxidation Murlin 

 and Bailey 3 and other investigators have obtained 

 confirmatory experimental results. Biedl 4 , quoting and 

 commenting on these findings, states that strong evidence 

 of their accuracy is to be obtained by the administration 

 of ovarian extract, which, he asserts, will raise the 

 lowered metabolism in castrated animals to as much 

 as 30 to 50 per cent, above the standard obtaining 

 before operation an effect which cannot be produced 

 in the case of the normal subject. 



It is well known, of course, that from a casual 



1 Pearl, R. , Science (Lancaster Pa.), New Ser., 1916, vol. xliv, p. G87. 



2 Loewy, A., and P. F. Richter, Centralbl. f.Physiol, 1902, vol. xvi, 

 p. 449. 



3 Murlin, J. R., and H. Bailey, Surg. Gyn. and Obstet., 1917, vol. 

 xxv, p, 332. 



4 Biedl, A., Innere SeJcretion, 1913, 2nd ed. 



