The Variations in the Mucin Content of the Bulbo -urethral Glands. 17 



gave it in the marked way that is quite often seen in normal cats: 

 the practice of castrating adult cats is so common that it is unhkely 

 all those examined had been operated on before puberty. 



Double ovariotomy was performed on five adult cats, which were 

 kept three, six six, twelve and twelve months after respectively. In 

 all cases Bartholin's glands were very small and in two so small as to 

 be below the normal variations of the gland in intact cats. The glan- 

 dular epithilium consisted entirely of cubical or flattened cells, mucin 

 only occurred in a very few of them and in some sections no cells con- 

 taining it could be seen: acini dilated with homogeneous secretion 

 were frequent, in some no mucin was present in the acini, in others a 

 faint streak of it between the cells and the homogeneous secretion. 

 In two cats one ovary only was removed, these were kept three and 

 six months after the operation: in both, the remaining ovary had 

 dilated follicles when they were killed and the Barthohn's glands, which 

 resembled each other in size and structure, were formed of cells of the 

 tall columnar type normally asso:iated with this condition of the ova- 

 ries. In two cats the ovaries were removed within twenty-four hours 

 of parturition: they continued suckling and were killed respectively 

 two weeks and a month after, the Bartholin's glands in both cases 

 showed considerably less mucin in the cells than those of control cats 

 of the same period in which double ovariotomy had not been done: 

 probably a larger number of experiments on this last point would be 

 necessary to eliminate individual variations. 



Removal of both ovaries therefore, prevents the development of 

 a large amount of mucin in the cells of Bartholin's glands and, as far 

 as experiments have gone, accelerates its disappearance when already 

 present. Removal of one ovary, as would be expected, has no effect 

 on the glands. 



IV. Functions of the glands. 



Numerous suggestions have been made as to the functions of Cow- 

 per's glands, all, with one exception unsupported by experimental 

 evidence. The single exception is the observation of Camus and Grley 

 [2\ that the secretion of Cowper's gland in the hedgehog — which 



Internationale Monatsschrift f. Anat. u. Phys. XXX. 2 



