552 SWALE VINCENT 



The following scheme is given by Hill and O'Donoghue : 



A 



Anestrum 

 Pro-estrum (uterine degeneration) 



I 



Estrus (ovulation) 



Metestrum 

 Pregnancy 



Nursing period 



Anestrum 



Effects of Early and Late Castration in the Female 

 The Secondary Sexual Characters 



Castration. In males it is well known that interference with the 

 discharge of the seminal fluid has no effect 011 the secondary sexual 

 characters, while removal of the test is has a very marked effect. Simi- 

 larly, in the female any operation which abolishes the normal passage 

 of the ova down the Fallopian tubes into the uterus has no influence on 

 the secondary characters, while removal of the ovary results in the changes 

 about to be described. These facts are the basis for the theory of internal 

 secretions as applied to the gonads. 



Our knowledge of the effects of extirpation of the ovaries before the 

 age of puberty in the human subject is very limited. A large number 

 of operations must have been performed in which female children were 

 deprived of both ovaries, but there seems to be no systematic account of 

 them. Marshall states that double ovariotomy, if carried out before pu- 

 berty, besides preventing the onset of puberty and the occurrence of 

 menstruation, produces noticeable effects on the general form and ap- 

 pearance, as may be seen in adult women in semibarbarous parts of Asia, 

 where the natives perform this operation upon young girls. Such women 

 are said to be devoid of many of the characteristics of their sex, and in 

 certain cases to present resemblances to men. It is stated that these 

 female castrates grow to be tall, the accessory apparatus of the genitalia 

 remains entirely undeveloped, the secondary sexual characters and the 

 breasts do not develop. This account is quoted not only by Marshall but 

 by other writers, and seems to be derived from the observations of Roberts 



