422 THE HUMAN SPECIES 



cesses when not metastatic do not usually go on to suppuration 

 in animals, but to resolution and restoration of function. 



The larger number of the swellings of the testis, whether 

 tuberculous, myomatous, cystic, sarcomatous or carcinomatous, 

 demand removal by castration, an operation which is daily per- 

 formed on male domestic animals on purely economic grounds. 



The changes in physical and psychical condition which 

 occur as a result of removal of the male and female genital 

 glands have attracted the attention of investigators from the 

 earliest times, and have recently formed the subject of an inter- 

 esting treatise by Moebius, 1 who holds that these changes are, 

 generally speaking, identical for man and animals. Anatomi- 

 cally, the changes in the sexual organs may first be mentioned. 

 As in man the penis remains small, and the prostate and vesi- 

 culae seminales atrophy, while the mammary glands increase in 

 size, so also in oxen the prostate and vesiculae disappear at the 

 same time as the teats grow large. The reverse condition was 

 observed by Dr. Roberts in India, where females who had been 

 splayed while young became muscular and masculine in type 

 without any development of the external genitals. Castrated 

 animals usually become fat, just as large fatty cushions usually 

 develop in castrated men and women. The changes in the skin 

 connected with the development of secondary sexual character- 

 istics are still more remarkable, and concern males more than 

 females. The growth of hair which characterises the adult 

 man is absent in eunuchs, or only developed as down to the 

 extent seen in women. The resemblance to the female type is 

 seen in the fact that eunuchs seldom develop an " Adam's apple," 

 a fact recorded by Aristotle. 



In castrated cocks the similarity to the hen bird is seen in 

 the absence of wattles and comb, and the scanty growth of tail 

 feathers which remain flattened as they do in hens. Capons 

 are either unable to crow, or can only do so imperfectly. The 

 poor development of the larynx in human eunuchs is the reason 

 why the voice does not change, but remains high pitched. The 

 larynx is intermediate between the male and female in type. 



Equally striking are the changes in the bones. According 

 to Moebius, eunuchs are generally tall and slim ; it is not known 



1 Moebius, Uber die Wirkung der Kastration. Halle, 1905. 



