1 62 Diseases of the Genital Organs 



functional power of secreting spermatozoa. When the tes- 

 ticles descend into the scrotum, they are normal in size and 

 consistency. As the age of sexual function approaches, the 

 testicles fail to grow to full size and remain soft. So far as 

 I have observed, the sexual desire is normal, or perhaps 

 slightly subnormal. The animal mounts the female 

 promptly and apparently copulates naturally. Search for 

 spermatozoa in the vagina, immediately following copula- 

 tion, is negative. Physical examination shows the testicles 

 to be not more than one-half to two-thirds the volume of 

 testes of normal animals of the same age, size, and breed. 

 Even more marked, in my experience, is the soft, flaccid 

 character of the glands. In all cases observed by me, the di- 

 minutive, flaccid testes have been symmetrical in size and 

 form. The defect appears to be congenital or to originate 

 while the male is yet a nursling. I have observed it only in 

 young animals which were absolutely sterile from the first. 

 The sterility has always been uniform and permanent. At 

 first some of this type of testicles revealed upon histologic 

 examination what was looked upon as a true arrest in devel- 

 opment, like the typical cryptorchid testes. Later, in some 

 cases, I have been surprised to find that the epithelium of 

 the epididymal tubules has been destroyed and their lumen 

 filled with cell debris instead of spermatozoa, the semeni- 

 ferous tubules have largely lost their epithelium, spermato- 

 zoa rare, and probably at no time viable. This leads to the 

 conclusion that in such cases the condition is due to a highly 

 destructive invasion of the epididymis and testicle by an in- 

 fection which falls short of abscessation or suppuration but 

 absolutely and permanently destroys the physiologic func- 

 tion of the organ. The condition will therefore be more 

 fully discussed under "Infections of the Genital Tract of 

 the Bull." 



Forensically, I know of no instance which has been de- 

 cided in a law court in case of sale. The sale of such an ani- 

 mal for breeding purposes is rarely, if ever, fraudulent. 

 The breeder, selling his young males usually without having 

 used them for breeding purposes, does not discern the ster- 



