PHYSIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY AND PATHOLOGY 23 



Later, however (1913), Sart.eschi(&) reported the production of the 

 "macrogenitosomatic syndrome" in young rabbits and puppies. Of twenty- 

 three rabbits operated upon at the age of about forty-five days, three only 

 survived, and in these, a small remnant of the pineal body was found on 

 autopsy. Following pineal removal the testes were greatly hypertrophied, 

 as in Foa's cockerels. The rabbits had up to the time of their death (at 

 the age of five to seven months), grown much more than the controls of 

 their own age. All the organs, including the endocrin glands, were nor- 

 mal. Sarteschi concluded that in rabbits pineal ablation, whether it be 

 complete or incomplete, determines a more rapid development, sexual 

 precocity and notable enlargement of the testes. In puppies the operation 

 was found to be more difficult; out of twenty-seven only five survived. 

 Operation took place at the age of two months. Substantially the same 

 results followed as in the rabbits. The testes of one puppy were of adult 

 size before he was five months old ; at autopsy they were found histologi- 

 cally normal. Another male puppy showed, at the age of five months, 

 unusual size and adiposity and enlarged testes. In conclusion, Sarteschi 

 accepted Pellizzi's hypothesis that the pineal body exercises a moderating 

 action on genitosomatic development. 



Exner and Boese's Experiments. These authors in a series of pineal 

 operations made use of the cautery. Precise location of the pineal for 

 cauterization is not possible, consequently the destruction of contiguous 

 tissue was considerable and the attending mortality high. Seventy-five 

 of the ninety-five animals operated upon died, the greater number from 

 hemorrhage. Among the survivors no changes occurred attributable to 

 pineal deprivation. 



Fo&'s Experiments. Foa(a), in 1912, after extensive preliminary 

 work, from which he decided that the rabbit is wholly unsuited for pineal 

 extirpation experiments, directed his attention to pineal ablation in young 

 chicks, and reported the production in young cocks of precocity in body 

 and sexual development. The glands were removed from the chicks at 

 about one month of age. The mortality percentage was very high, only 

 25 per cent of his animals surviving. The females of the series evinced 

 no indications of any changes due to pineal destruction, except a retarda- 

 tion in growth during the first two or three months subsequent to the 

 removal of the gland. The three 'young cocks, which survived, accord- 

 ing to Foa, showed excessive growth of combs and testes and exhibited 

 indications of greater sexual activity. 



Further experiments upon chicks and rats were reported by Foa(&) in 

 1914, to substantiate his earlier claims as to the pineal's functions. He 

 thus summarized this recent work: "The new experiments on the ex- 

 tirpation of -the pineal gland in the young male chick confirm the re- 

 sult which I previously obtained, that the operation is followed by a de- 

 velopment of the testes and the crest greater than in the non-operated 



