PARTIAL HERMAPHRODITISM 151 



I shall not, therefore, dwell on this aspect of the Paramount 

 etiology of partial hermaphroditism, beyond saying that 



all the evidence we have concerning the production and secretions 



. . in mam- 



maintenance of the sex-characteristics subsequently to tenance of 



foetal life points to the paramount influence of all of ^rUtics. 

 the internal secretions. And, as this is so, it is not 

 illogical to suppose that the same factors are responsible 

 during foetal life for the production of the normal 

 primary characteristics : we have, in fact, as already 

 stated, strong and direct evidence on this point. 



Before concluding these remarks on partial herm- Specification 

 aphroditism, I wish to call attention to the method ^^ 

 adopted in the specification of the sex in the human he j" diti 

 subject. As is well known, the character of the gonad is 

 considered indicative of the sex of the person. I believe 

 this often to be as unjustifiable on scientific grounds as 

 it is unfair from a social point of view, for the following 

 reasons. 



In view of many pathological observations on the 

 subject it appears probable that in female tubular 

 partial hermaphrodites, with male characteristics in 

 association with ovaries, certain of the other organs of 

 internal secretion, such as the suprarenals and pituitary, 

 are of a male type ; and that in male tubular partial 

 hermaphrodites the commonest variety with testes in 

 association with feminine secondary characteristics, the 

 other organs of internal secretion are of a female type. 



Again, it is extremely interesting to note how 

 erroneous has been the view, generally held, that the 

 interstitial cells of the gonads are chiefly responsible 

 for the secondary sex-characteristics. For many years 

 I have contended that the gonads play but a subservient 

 part ; and this is emphatically demonstrated in the sub- 

 ject under discussion by the fact that in the testes of 

 tubular partial hermaphrodites with feminine secondary 

 characteristics, as in the case recorded above, the inter- 

 stitial cells are always developed to a remarkable extent 

 (fig. 46) to a degree which is rarely seen even in the 

 undescended testis (fig. 47) and never in the normal testis 



