3Q2 THE DISEASES OF THE SEXUAL GLANDS 



action of castration is different according to whether it has been done in 

 early youth or after the entrance of puberty. 



We shall first pay attention to the manifestations of loss of sexual glands 

 in males. When the castration occurred in earliest youth, the development 

 of the accessory genital apparatus is extremely deficient. Penis, prostate, 

 and seminal vesicles remain small (Pelikan). When castration has taken 

 place in later years the penis becomes only slightly smaller, while the pros- 

 tate shrinks to a greater extent. As is known, castration has been done 

 for prostatic hypertrophy; I shall consider in detail later the action of late 

 castration. 



In early castration all sexual instinct is absent, and the small penis that 

 remains never becomes erect. As the castration is not always complete, 

 it may happen some of the eunuchs may still experience a slight degree of 

 libido, on account of which some of the harem-watchers in the Orient had 

 their penis removed with the testicles. A. Marie reports the case of a forty- 

 year-old Egyptian eunuch who had been castrated in childhood, but who 

 showed illusory ideas that had an erotic content. 



If castration has been carried out after development of puberty the 

 sexual instinct Mobius calls it the cerebral sexual instinct is retained 

 for a long time; copulation is still possible and there occurs an ejaculation 

 of prostatic secretion. 



According to Gall, the cerebellum should atrophy, and indeed in uni- 

 lateral castrates the opposite half of the cerebellum. This statement has 

 been contradicted, although Mobius pointed out that no certain contradictory 

 evidence has been advanced. According to a personal communication of 

 Prof. Tandler, however, the statement of Gall is certainly not in accordance 

 with fact. 



The statement as to the characters of castrated individuals varies very 

 much. For the most part it is stated that 'castrates lack the courage, the 

 passions, and the aspiration of a normal man; they are described as tricky, 

 revengeful, and cruel. On the contrary the intellectual capabilities are 

 not diminished, as many eunuchs have attained to influential positions. 

 It is hard to judge these statements, as in the most of the famous eunuchs, 

 the history lacks exact knowledge as to the time and the completeness of 

 the castration. Mobius points out that castrates lack the higher artistic 

 endowments, for the virtuosity of castrated singers cannot be regarded as 

 such. At any rate, animal experimentation shows that castrated animals 

 (oxen, geldings, capons) lack the courage, the animation, and passions of 

 normal male animals. 



Noteworthy is the influence of castration on the skeletal formation and 

 the development of the secondary sexual characters. Castration in early 

 years leads in man and animals to increase in length (Godard, Pelikan, 

 Pittard, Becker, Lortet, Pirsche, Sellheim, Tandler and Grosz, and others). 



