26 GONADECTOMY IN RELATION TO THE SECONDARY 



remained, since the posterior portion did not come off as neatly as 

 could be desired. A slow hemorrhage, however, permitted a rather 

 careful examination of the site of the ovary, and this showed no trace 

 of ovary. September 22, male feathers had begun to appear, but after 

 a time female characters appeared on the younger portions of the 

 feathers and, of course, those feathers that developed after this were 

 altogether female. December 14 an examination was made. At the 

 extreme anterior end of the original site of the ovary was a piece the 

 size of a pin-head with a few ova just visible to the naked eye. These 

 ova were destroyed. Near the center of the site were 3 ova, each 3 or 

 4 mm. in diameter, which were left in place. Careful scrutiny failed 

 to show others. No ovary was visible on the right side of the bird. 

 August 1, 1913, after an illness of several weeks, she died in an ema- 

 ciated condition. The right side was completely empty. On the left, 

 in the same situation as the 3 ova mentioned above, which had in the 

 meantime disappeared, was a little tissue that gave no indication of 

 being ovarian. The oviduct was infantile. At death the plumage 

 was a mixture of male and female feathers, but the numerous new 

 feathers that were coming in were all male. In this individual there 

 was first a partial assumption of male characters, followed by a change 

 to female characters and finally again to male characters. These 

 changes paralleled the removal of all but a minute portion of the ovary 

 followed by a partial regeneration, which in turn was either removed 

 or degenerated. 



Other instances with a similar history might be described. In some 

 only a few feathers developed male characters partially or wholly (plate 

 VH, fig. F) ; others developed more. In two instances, which were pure- 

 bred Leghorns of the same stock as No. 2058, each developed a com- 

 plete juvenile male plumage by early fall. Both lost the feathers from 

 the back by the feather-eating habits of their companions, and in each 

 instance the new feathers that came in were female in character. In 

 June, both birds were opened and in each considerable ovarian tissue 

 was found and as much of this as possible was removed. Three 

 weeks later, the appearance of male feathers had begun in both birds, 

 but stopped soon after. Later, one of the two resumed the develop- 

 ment of male characters. In several others the spurs continued to 

 develop, although the plumage reverted. The relation of spurs to 

 the ovary will be discussed later (page 38) . 



MALE FOWL PARTIALLY OR COMPLETELY ORCHIDOTOMIZED. 



The removal of the testes has been a common practice, commer- 

 cially, for centuries, in order to increase the size of the bird and also 

 to improve its flavor. It seems probable, however, that what really 

 happens is that while the size is increased, the flesh is not improved, 

 but remains in the condition of the young bird much longer than it 



