198 Diseases of the Genital Organs 



recommends that these remedies be fed with cut hay and 

 that they be allowed for two or three days in succession and 

 then omitted for the same length of time, when they may 

 be given again. I doubt very greatly the value of aphrodisi- 

 acs, or sexual stimulants, in breeding animals. Sexual in- 

 stinct is normal and so universal in animals of breeding 

 age and in proper health that I fail to see the value of ex- 

 citing sexual desire artificially. If sexual instinct is ab- 

 sent, it is because of some disease of, or depression in the 

 general vigor of the animal, which can not readily be re- 

 moved by aphrodisiacs. It has not been shown that the 

 arousal of sexual appetite by means of these drugs insures 

 or even favors fertility. A constant and wide distinction 

 must be drawn between copulation and fecundation. The 

 fundamental function of the male is the elaboration of virile 

 spermatozoa, or male cells, and of the female to produce 

 healthy ova. Copulation serves merely to transfer these 

 fecunding cells from the testes of the male to the vagina of 

 the female. Copulation is in vain without vigorous sper- 

 matozoa and healthy ova, and no data exist to show or sug- 

 gest that any drug may directly cause or favor their devel- 

 opment. 



Certainly it must be admitted that tonics, alteratives, or 

 other drugs capable of influencing favorably the restoration 

 of a diseased animal to a state of health must also improve 

 its reproductive powers, by restoring the equilibrium of the 

 body and enabling it to perform better all its normal func- 

 tions, among which is reproduction . The highest state of 

 the general vigor of the body is, consequently, the most 

 favorable condition for the production of virile spermatozoa 

 and ova, which constitute the first essential in fertility . 



Sometimes there is an apparent absence of sexual desire 

 in young males when first brought in contact with estrual 

 females for purposes of coitus. If such animals are turned 

 loose with the females, the difficulty is generally overcome 

 very promptly. 



The preparation of breeding animals for the show is al- 

 ways dangerous for their sexual vitality. In order to get 



