506 



SEMEN. 



filtration were carefully washed with water : 

 they were thus quite pure, excepting the ad- 

 mixture of some few epithelial cells. The 

 subject used in the investigation had attained 

 full generative maturity, and was almost devoid 

 of vesicles of developement. 



The spermatozoa were dissolved by cold 

 solution of potash ; a certain cloudiness which 

 remained was due to epithelia that were 

 slowly dissolved. The alkaline solution exhi- 

 bited a copious precipitate on the addition of 

 acetic acid ; but the precipitate was insoluble 

 in the excess of the acid, even by digestion. 

 It was filtered off, and the acidulated fluid 

 treated with potash, iron, and cyanic acid, 

 but no cloudiness was produced. The sub- 

 stance of the spermatozoa coincides, therefore, 

 with the " binoxyde of protein" of Mulder ; 

 it contains no albumen or fibrin. 



A part of the spermatozoa were dried in 

 a water bath, pulverised, and treated with 

 ether. During this process they yielded a not 

 inconsiderable quantity of fat (4'05 per cent.) 

 of a yellowish colour and butter-like con- 

 sistence. The spermatozoa, liberated from 

 this fat, left, on being burnt, a black coal, which 

 could not be made white by burning, and had 

 an acid reaction, which was due to free phos- 

 phoric acid. The total quantity of fixed 

 constituents, in which, besides the phosphoric 

 acid, lime was recognised, amounted to 5'2l 

 per cent. 



Another portion of the expressed semen 

 was treated with a concentrated solution of 

 nitre. It thereby became considerably tougher, 

 more viscid, and filtered with difficulty. On 

 adding water, a milk-like cloudiness was pro- 

 duced in the filtered portion ; it was, how- 

 ever, precipitated in the same manner as the 

 simple watery extract by the infusion of galls. 

 Nitric acid caused a slight precipitate of al- 

 bumen. 



A second series of experiments was insti- 

 tuted on the semen from the testicles of a 

 cock, in which, however, the spermatozoa 

 were only scantily developed. The contents 

 of the seminal tubes principally consisted of 

 cells of developement, which could only be 

 separated with difficulty from the tissues of 

 the testicles. 



The filtered solution abounded in albumen, 

 but contained, on the other hand, only a slight 

 quantity of the matter (mucus), which was 

 precipitable by acetic acid, and insoluble in 

 excess of it. 



The residue on the filter (cells of deve* 

 lopement and spermatozoa) was dissolved in 

 solution of potash. The solution yielded a 

 white precipitate with acetic acid, which 

 principally dissolved in excess of the acid 

 (albuminous substance), whilst only a slight 

 quantity remained undissolved (binoxyde of 

 protein)* 



An old rabbit, when in the period of rutting, 

 was subjected to a third series of experiments. 

 The moderately turgid testicle was cut into 

 pieces, and the milky semen expressed. It 

 consisted of spermatozoa and numerous epi- 

 thelial cells. The reaction in the testicles was 



neutral, in the epididymis it was slightly alka- 

 line. It could only be filtered imperfectly. 

 The filtered solution was cloudy, and con- 

 tained many spermatozoa. The presence of a 

 slight quantity of albumen could be perceived 

 on the application of boiling heat. 



The residue of spermatozoa left on the 

 filter, and which were only imperfectly sepa- 

 rated from the fluid, dissolved with tolerable 

 ease in solution of potash, and were precipi- 

 tated by acetic acid. A very slight quantity 

 only dissolved in an excess of this acid. Only 

 a slight cloudiness was produced in the acetic 

 solution by ferro-cyomide of potassium. 



These different experiments yield the fol- 

 lowing results : 



1. The pure semen presents the appearance 

 of a milky fluid, of a mucous consistence, and 

 neutral reaction. A slight alkaline reaction 

 was perceived only once. 



2. The developed spermatozoa consist of 

 binoxyde of protein, the same substance 

 which Mulder has proved to be the principal 

 constituent of the epithelia, as well as of the 

 horny tissues in general.* 



3. The spermatozoa contain about 4* per 

 cent, of a butter-like fat, as well as phos- 

 phorus in an unoxydized state, and about 5 

 per cent, of phosphate of lime. 



4. The fluid part is a thin solution of 

 mucus, which, in addition to the animal matter, 

 contains chloride of sodium and small quan- 

 tities of phosphate and sulphate of the alkalies. 



5. The imperfectly developed spermatozoa 

 are composed of an albuminous substance, the 

 quantity of which diminishes in proportion to 

 the progress of the morphological develope- 

 ment. 



6. The perfectly developed semen contains 

 no longer any albuminous compound. 



7. The semen in fishes, birds, ana 1 mam- 

 malia possesses, essentially, the same chemical 

 composition. 



Such are the statements of Dr. Frerichs. 

 The most important inference derivable from 

 them appears to us to be the fact, that the 

 spermatozoa, in their chemical composition, 

 belong to the same category as the epithelial 

 cells of the animal body. This fact removes 

 every doubt respecting the nature of these 

 formations, every idea of their being inde- 

 pendent animals. The spermatozoa are there- 

 fore (as proved both by chemical analysis and 

 by microscopical investigation) mere element- 

 ary constituents of the male animal body, 

 which, like their equivalents in the female ani- 

 mal, the ova or contents of the ovaries, are 

 distinguished from other histological elements 

 by their having a different physiological pur- 

 pose ; they have less influence on the indivi- 

 dual in which they are produced, but are in- 

 tended, when separated from that individual, 

 to give rise to the formation of a new one.-j* 



* Versuch einer Allgem. Physiolog. Chemie. 

 532. 560. 



f In spite of this functional difference we cannot 

 help regarding spei'matozoa and ova as constituents 

 of the animal organization. Reichert, who declares 

 them to be organizations of quite a peculiar kind, 



