SEX STUDIES VII. CYSTIC DEGENERATION OF THE OVARIES. 79 



The data presented in this paper support ve:ry clea-rly the 

 oonckisiion which has been neaahed iby Below^', Frank'' and 

 others, (that ithere is a sharp disitinotioin (between the secretions 

 of oO'ripU'S lu'teuim and interstitial cells in respect of their effect 

 upon the organism,. That the initeratitial cells had nothing to 

 dlo wiitih the secoriidary sex characters dn this case seems entirely 

 clear. 



Summary.. 



This paper idesoribes the reproductive history of a cow, 

 which presents the following poinlts of interest: 



1. The cow was initially a perfect female, bearing calves 

 and making a very high milk record. 



2. Lalter she failed to oome in heat, and gradually, but in 

 the end to a very marked degree, took on male secondary sex 

 character isitics, both in behavioir and structure. 



3. The gonadiS oi this animal, examined subsequent to the 

 change in secondary dharacters, were exactly like those of a 

 no'nmal ooiw, save in the one respect thait the follicles were njot 

 breaking and discharging ova, but were forming follicu'lar cysts, 

 or becomiing atretic, aiid because of this nO' coirpora lutea were 

 formed. The interstitial secreting mechanisim o'f these ovaries 

 was absloluitely normal, both in respect O'f number O'f cells, and 

 the cyitological characteristics of the individual cells. 



4. The evidence fro'm this case strongly suggests that onie 

 function oif the corpus luteu'm, through its internal secretion, is 

 to miaintain in full development the female seoondary sex 

 characters. 



5. Rqpealted injeictions of a suspension of the dessicated 

 substance oi the anterior lolbe 'Of the pituitary body failed to 

 bring abbut any change in the sex behavior oif this cow after it 

 ha^d assumed a male character. 



"Bdow, N. A. Glandula lutea imd Ovarium in ihrem Verhalten zu 

 den normalen physiologischen und pathologischen Vorgangen im weibli- 

 chen Organismus. Monatschr. f. Geburtsh. u. Gynaek., Bd. XXXVI, pp. 

 679-696, 1912. 



^"Frank, R. T. The Functions of the Ovary, Surg., Gynaec, and Obst., 

 Vol. XIII, pp. 3-53, 191 1. 



