BIOCHEMISTRY OF THE SEXUAL ORGANS 299 



The crystalline substances appear only when the semen is 

 inspissated. They present various forms — prisms, rosettes, etc., and 

 according to Schreiner,^ who investigated the substance very fully, 

 these crystals are identical with those found on the surface of old 

 anatomical preparations which have been kept in alcohol, the so-called 

 "Bottcher's crystals." They are insoluble in alcohol, ether, and 

 chloroform, soluble in hot water, in formol, dilute alkahs and alkali 

 carbonates, and in dilute acids. They are coloured black by a solution 

 of iodine in potassium iodide — " Florence's reagent " (see p. 301). . Like 

 many ammonium-bases spermine gives a characteristic colour reaction 

 with alloxan.^ On evaporating a solution of spermine to which a 

 saturated solution of alloxan has been added, a red colour appears, 

 which changes into violet on the addition of alkali. The spermine 

 crystals are not identical, as was formerly believed, with the crystals 

 found in the blood of leuctiemic patients (" Zenker's crystals "), or 

 with the " Charcot-Leyden crystals " which occur in the sputum 

 of asthmatic persons. 



Their chemical nature is still a matter of doubt. According to 

 Schreiner, they are the phosphate of an organic base spermine, CgHgN, 

 which Ladenburg and AbeP believed to be aethylenimin, C^H^NH. 

 This is disputed, however, by Majert and Schmidt,* who ascribe to the 

 base the formula CgHj^^N^, and by Poehl,^ who has attributed very 

 remarkable properties to this substance. 



According to Poehl, spermine is possessed of marked pharma- 

 cological properties, and has a powerful influence on the metabolism. 

 It is recommended by Poehl as a valuable therapeutic agent. His 

 statements have not been confirmed by other observers — for example 

 Dixon ^ — and his views are now not generally accepted. 



Choline, which gives the same reactions as spermine with iodine 

 and alloxan, has also been stated to occur in the semen. 



The various glands of the genital tract contribute to the formation 

 of the semen in the following way : — 



The spermatozoa are formed in the testis, which secretes an 

 albuminous fluid as the medium in which the spermatozoa move 

 about. Crystals smaller than the crystals of spermine-phosphate 



1 Schreiner, " Uber eine neue organische Basis in thierischen Organismen,' 

 Idehig's Annalen, vol. cxciv., 1878. 



2 Poehl, "Weitere Mitteilungen iiber Spermin," Berliner Hin. Wochemchrift, 

 1891. See also Huntley and Wootton, Jour. Chem. Soc.,vol. xcix., 1911. 



3 Ladenburg and Abel, " Uber das Aethylenimin," Ber. dw deuUclim chem. 

 Gesellschaft, vol. xxi., 1888. 



* Majert and Schmidt, "Uber das Piperazin," Ber. der deutschen chem. 

 Qeaelhchaft, vol. xxiii., 1890. 



' Poehl, Die Physiologisch-Chemischen Orundlagen der 8'permintherapie, 

 St. Petersburg, 1898. 



* Dixon, "The Composition and Action of Orchitic Extracts," Jouv. of 

 Physiol., vol. xxvi., 1901. 



